


Spirit Animal Shenanigans

by Kittyreaper



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, M/M, Spirit Animals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-27 19:36:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 66,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6297445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittyreaper/pseuds/Kittyreaper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, life can be like looking through a diamond. The image refracts off gemstone walls, sometimes repeating itself, sometimes distorting into an almost unrecognizable picture.<br/>[Sorry for the sucky summary! This is a fanfic I originally posted on fanfiction.net under the username Kittyreaper; you'll know it's me from the identical profile picture. You're welcome. The main pairings are RomexGermania & Gerita, & warnings will be put at the beginning of each chapter. Side pairings of: Fruk, Spamano, & implied Pruaus. Comments are loved!]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1.1

**Author's Note:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: RomexGermania  
> Warnings: Slightly graphic wounds, but it's not too bad

They say the first human to bond with a spirit animal was a king. He was a strong, proud leader that reigned undefeated until dying in old age. His name was Romulus Vargas, and all witness accounts detailed vibrant, amber eyes, an untidy mess of curly, oak-brown hair, attractively tanned skin, and a smile so charming you could never stay mad at him. He was kind, powerful, intelligent, and came to rule almost all lands, from where the sun rose in the east, to where it set in the west. However, he was very materialistic.

King Romulus, despite all of his compassion and wit, was a shallow man. For those that had the pleasure of interacting with him, it was all fine and dandy until the king opened his mouth, in which the entire conversation on his part would consist of fighting, food, and pretty women. Well, that is to say unless they were a pretty woman themself, in which the king would constantly flirt with them and that would be it. Outside of the battle field, all the king cared for were three things: attractive women, delicious food, and fueling his own ego.

On top of that, the king was a bachelor. Now, this wouldn’t ordinarily be a problem; after all, it wasn’t as if _marriage_ was the top priority of any ruler. However, at the time of our story, King Romulus was in his mid-thirties, with all the land, power, and wealth he could ever want, and yet he still didn’t seem the least bit interested in commitment. Sure, he regularly bedded with beautiful maidens from balls, but not once did the king mention marriage. Whenever his advisors even thought to bring up the m-word, King Romulus would quickly interrupt them, changing the topic to something more light-hearted. With no current heir, and the king growing older each day, the royal court was not happy.

And so, King Romulus found himself here, casually riding on a gray clydesdale in the middle of the forest. He sighed deeply as the horse continued its _clop, clop, clop,_ thinking about the future. Lately, this was all his court talked about: making sure the king got married and produced an heir to secure the Vargas family’s place in the empire. Don’t get me wrong, Romulus _loved_ kids. He just melted whenever he saw one, a cute, pudgy little thing looking up at him with the most adorable doe-eyes. Romulus would’ve loved to be a parent, raising his own precious gem to adulthood.

However, there was one thing that made him tense up and his face pale, that one little drawback: _marriage._ Anyone with common sense knew the king loved gorgeous women. Anyone with half a brain knew sex was one of his favorite things. Hell, even he knew that. But the thing is, the royal court didn’t want their king to just adopt some kid off the street; they wanted Romulus to get _married._ Sure, it was irrational, fearing a simple word, but to Romulus, it was not just that. Marriage meant commitment. Marriage meant a strong lack of freedom. _Marriage meant he couldn’t just fuck whoever he wanted anymore._

Romulus hated marriage.

And so here he was, running away from his problems like any classic bachelor. Romulus looked up from the reigns controlling his horse, gazing at the pale-blue, autumn sky. A juggernaut of leaves fell around him, framing his peripheral vision with dazzling streams of redwood, pumpkin, and sunshine-yellow. The king gave a small grin, allowing his worries to simply drift away. When he returned to the castle, Romulus knew he would have to confront his advisor’s wrath at leaving his duties, but just for now, he would let himself forget about that. He deserved it, always having to deal with the pressures of being a fair and just king. After all, even royalty needed a break every once in awhile, right?

Romulus started at the sound of a loud _thump,_ followed by the shrieking neigh of his horse. The clydesdale rose on two hooves, backing herself up as her owner attempted to soothe her.

“Hey, shh, shhh, hey, Bella, it’s okay.” Romulus gently said, “Hey, it’s alright now, ita?”

Once the horse had been pacified, lowering back to the ground, Romulus looked to see what it was that had scared her. Laid limply upon the bed of leaves and twigs, gashes littering his face and back, had collapsed a large, grey wolf. Romulus held in his gasp of surprise, jumping down from his perch. He rushed over to inspect the damage, worry clawing at his insides. It wasn’t normal for wild animals to crash right in front of humans, much less in this condition.

“Salve? Are you with me?” He knelt before the animal, stroking some stray fur from a particularly grotesque wound below its eye. The creature blinked awake, causing the king to tense. Gazing upon Romulus, in all his silken robes and to-die-for looks, was a pair of _intelligent_ , almost human, grass green eyes. Wolves didn’t normally have _green_ eyes, much less in this specific species. This was when Romulus realized that only two things could have that certain spark of wisdom and comprehension: humans and _spirits._

The king immediately stood, ushering the clydesdale over and having her sit, then lifting the unusually grand wolf, not even caring if his clothes were forever ruined with blood stains, and placing him upon Bella’s back. That afternoon, instead of the lazy pace he’d kept for the ride there, Romulus kicked his horse into a full-on gallop for the entire way back.

“KING ROMULUS, WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN?!” The king cringed at his advisor’s harsh tone, but recovered quickly, straightening himself. “HONESTLY, JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T WANT TO GET MARRIED DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN JUST RUN OFF WHENEVER YOU’D LIKE. HOW ARE YOU SO INCONSIDE-”

“If you don’t mind, I’m kind of busy right now.”

“BUSY?! BUSY?! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE BUS-” This time, the royal advisor cut himself off as Bella moved to reveal her cargo. “IS THAT A WOLF?!” He immediately went back to yelling, “OH DEAR LORD, HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU: JUST BECAUSE IT LOOKS CUTE AND CUDDLY DOESN’T MEAN IT IS. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD KNOW THIS BY NOW-”

“OI! Shut up and listen!” Romulus demanded, his advisor falling quiet. “This isn’t like other wolves, okay? There’s something different about him, and for now he’s under my care.”

With the conversation subsequently ended, the royal advisor staring in shock, Romulus led his horse to the front doors of the palace. As he approached, the wooden, intricately decorated entrance opened from the inside by unseen servants. No one batted a single eye when Bella was brought in as well, a beaten wolf on her back; anyone that would be in the palace was well-used to their king’s ridiculous antics by now.

    The horse trotted up the large staircase, the steps unusually big for when the eccentric ruler decided to bring animals in during the winter. Upstairs, and a few minutes later, the wolf was carefully placed upon Romulus’s bed, the aforementioned man running off to snatch some water and a stack of towels from the master bathroom. Bella, meanwhile, sat herself down onto the floor of the bedroom, closing her eyes for a much-needed nap, having sprinted the whole way home with an abnormally large wolf and a full-sized human on her back.

When Romulus returned, he was carrying a large bin of water and balancing roughly ten towels on his head. If the wolf had been conscious, it probably would have made an amused snort at the sight. The king plopped the bin onto the floor next to his bed, a resounding _clang_ of metal echoing in the spacious room. Carefully, he removed the soft linens from his head, setting them down on the mattress.

“Alright, time to fix you up.” The king’s eyes took on a determined look, his hands picking up a richly colored, orange towel and carefully wetting it.

* * *

The next time the wolf awoke, he found himself in an unfamiliar setting. Although his vision was blurry, and at best unfocused, he could make out that he was on a nest of crimson sheets and blankets, in a room of golden walls with weird, valuable-looking, clearly _human_ decorations. His eyes instinctively narrowed, partially in a vain attempt to make the world clearer, partially to focus on any possible threats.

“Ah, I see you’re awake!” His head whipped to the right, to see a very charming man smiling cheerfully at him. The wolf had a bad feeling about this. To make it clear that he didn’t trust this stranger, the wolf began to growl, his fur standing on edge.

“Wha- hey, don’t growl at me! I’m just trying to help!” To the wolf’s surprise, this slightly intimidating new person whined loudly, reminding him of a small, human child.

This display unnerved him even more, so the wolf rose from the human-nest and sprinted to the door… or at least tried to. As he stood, about to pounce away, his entire body felt as if shocked by lightning, a stinging, burning pain as old scabs under his fur began to re-open.

“Ah, don’t do that! You might hurt yourself!” The unsettling man rushed over to the wolf’s side, sitting him down and checking for any serious gashes. “Be careful, okay? You were in really bad shape when I found you.”

Reluctantly, the wolf complied, settling down on the plush human-nest once more. He didn’t understand why any nest would need to bounce so much. “Ita, see? Isn’t that better? Just calm down and relax.” The stranger reached somewhere on the floor next to the human-nest, and when his hand returned to the wolf’s line of vision, it carried a wet, slightly bloody towel. “I’m going to clean your wounds again, alright?”

The wolf made a disgruntled noise, resting his head on his paws. He closed his eyes, then released a short bark of protest as the cold, wet cloth came in contact with a particularly nasty slice through his side. “Hey, hey, it’s alright…” With his free hand, the stranger began petting the wolf, “You’re okay now.”

As the stranger continued to carefully wash and bandage the wolf’s wounds, the canine’s bark gradually died down to soft, occasional whimpers. When the stranger lifted his face to dab at the gash under his eye, the wolf didn’t protest. A comfortable silence accompanied them as cheerful amber met comprehensive green, and the stranger seemed to linger after carefully wrapping the jagged opening.

A knock on the door pulled both out of the moment. “I’m coming!” The stranger broke the wolf’s gaze, turning towards the sound. He quickly put the cloth and leftover bandages on the human-nest, then stood and hurried to the large, double-doors to the wolf’s right.

“Your highness? Are you alright in there? That wolf hasn’t hurt you or anything has it-”

“No, no, it’s fine!” The stranger interrupted another human with a grin, “I just finished bandaging his wounds!”

“Oh.” The other human paused, speechless. “Well, in that case, the royal court seeks your presence in the throne room.”

The other human then walked off, an air of self-righteous sophistication about him. The stranger sighed deeply, then turned back to the wolf. “Sorry, but I have to go. You just stay here and rest, alright? Vale!” And like that, the stranger was gone.

_Hm. So he’s a human-king._


	2. 1.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Rome x Germania  
> Warnings: Non-graphic nudity

-1.2-

The next morning, King Romulus cracked open the door to his bedroom. Last night, he had decided on sleeping in a guest room nearby, thinking it probably wasn’t best to barge in on a wounded, sleeping wolf that could quite possibly kill him. When Romulus poked his head into the room, he grinned, noticing the wolf was still fast asleep. He quietly entered, tip-toeing his way to the bed.

_ Aww, he looks so cute! _ The king inwardly gushed. It was true; asleep, the wolf had a calm, peaceful look on his face; all of his muscles had turned to mush, ears elegantly folded back against his head, and he almost looked like a regular dog.

Romulus kneeled, reaching a hand out to pet the wolf’s fluffy snout, when a low growl emanated deep from within his throat. He immediately pulled back, tensing at the thought of a lash-out in this sleep-fogged state. Grass green eyes blinked open, and the wolf’s threatening noises quieted as he recognized his current care-taker. Smiling once again, Romulus’s fingers connected with wiry, ashen fur, and the creature’s intense gaze fluttered behind his eyelids.

_ Just until he’s healed. Then I’ve got to take him back to the forest, _ Romulus told himself, savoring the moment.

The wolf’s strength slowly returned. After the first few days, the cacophony of harsh wounds stopped hurting. After the first week, the wolf could safely leave the room. After the first month, he was good as new.

And yet, three months after he first woke up here, the wolf found himself roaming about the palace gardens, fully capable of leaving.

The wolf had actually grown quite fond of the sole source of ‘wilderness’ nearby; sure it wasn’t much, but it made a good imitation of the exotic beauty of a jungle. Contained by a few small layers of brick were visual symphonies of color, petals, and tall grass. All about the courtyard were stepping-stone pathways leading to sitting areas, pleasantly surrounded by elegant stargazer lilies. The wolf didn’t care much for these convenient human constructs, instead wandering by the treeline, weaving himself between breath-taking landscapes. Eventually, he came to a mature orange tree, lazily setting himself down with a  _ plop. _

It felt nice to be pampered, the wolf had come to realize. As time dragged on, this was the mantra he told himself to explain why he stayed with these silly humans, and their silly human-king. Ever since he was able to walk around on his own, the wolf had been mercilessly pestered by the one that took him in. He could barely go anywhere on his own, what with the human-king shadowing him. However, despite how obnoxious the wolf found the human-king to be, he couldn’t help but feel on edge at the off-ness of it.

Almost daily, the human-king would leave at some point to go to some meeting with some people he was very vague about. The wolf didn’t like it. What he also didn’t like was the state in which the human-king would return. He would slip into his room in the middle of the night, of which he and the wolf had made a habit of sharing, the wolf taking a spot at the foot of the bed. Of course, the wolf’s better senses would cause him to wake up at the sound of the door closing. Even half-asleep, the wolf was always able to tell the human-king wasn’t his usual, unnaturally happy self after these meetings. His smile was strained when he greeted the wolf, his movements stiff, and his eyes carried a certain weight to them. He looked older. He looked tired. The wolf didn’t appreciate this at all.

Throughout all of this, the human-king growing visibly weary at whatever went on behind closed doors, the wolf couldn’t help this feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. It had the familiar, pleasant buzz of animalistic instinct to it, but at the same time, was laced in some unknown emotion. It made him slightly wary, acknowledging that he knew nothing, so the wolf pushed it to the back of his mind. And yet, it still persisted.

“Hey, there you are!” His eyes snapped open at the sound of a well-recognized voice. There the human-king stood, just few large steps away from the wolf’s seat. Grinning like a maniac as usual, he rushed over to sit next to the wolf, placing a light hand on his furred back.

As the human-king began to prattle endlessly, the wolf decided to let this case rest for awhile. He still didn’t know what was wrong in his companion’s seemingly perfect life, or why he felt this strange, unique emotion, but that didn’t matter right now. Right now, all that was relevant to the wolf were the grass beneath his paws, the smell of fresh, flowery air, the sounds of birds chirping in the near vicinity, and the human-king’s banter.

King Romulus sighed deeply as he walked through the halls of the palace, returning well past dark from yet another pointless meeting. Honestly, Romulus just didn’t want to get married; why couldn’t the royal court accept that and move on with their lives? He, his advisor, and the other noblemen fought about this more and more recently, neither side giving up. It was really starting to take its toll on him. Just the other day, Romulus had looked into his reflection in the morning, and he had crows feet under his eyes. Crows feet. King Romulus Vargas, the most attractive and eligible royal bachelor in all of the empire had  _ crows feet. _ Well, looks like the apocalypse has come. Everyone grab your metal helmets and salted beef!

As Romulus finally came across the door to his room, he didn’t hesitate to grab the door handle and twist, but stopped in his tracks upon entering. Normally, the lanterns would have been long-since put out, his wolf sprawled at the foot of the bed, and Romulus would join him to go to sleep. Tonight, all of this was thrown out the window.

First of all, the lanterns were clearly still on. This was surprising enough in of itself, but it was what was waiting for him on the bed that really confused the king. Or should I say  _ who _ . Instead of his darling houseguest, a man about the same age as Romulus with long, bleach blonde hair sat on the edge of the bed, facing away from the door. And he was naked. At the sound of the door opening, the man whipped his head in Romulus’s direction, causing his heart to just about stop. The man was quite handsome, stoic face complimented by high cheekbones and a strong jaw. However, it was his eyes that really stood out. They were a deep, intense shade of grass green, and held a look of pure, unabashed determination. The king hadn’t paid much attention before, but they were passionate. They were strong. They were powerful. They depicted every emotion the rest of his face didn’t, and they looked exactly like the wolf’s.

“You are back.” The man - no, the wolf - the  _ something _ stated. Although he would deny it vehemently, the king quite liked the other’s accent, a growly sort of sound clearly from the northern reaches of the empire.

“Wha- how-” Romulus sputtered in-eloquently. “Are- are you-”

The other sighed, “Allow me to explain. Yes, I am the wolf spirit you have been for some, probably inane, reason keeping here. As for why I am not wearing any of your strange human-fur: I am afraid when you transform from a wolf into a human, your fur disappears somewhere. How can you stand winters without anything to keep you warm? Is that why you wear those things on your body?”

Slowly, a smile stretched itself across Romulus’s face, a small laugh bubbling past his lips at the other’s cluelessness when it came to humans. “Alright, let me get you some clothes first.”

And so, a few short minutes later, the two sat in a small sitting area within the king’s room, the ‘wolf’ wearing some of Romulus’s robes. Although hand-crafted and absolutely stunning on their owner, such finery didn’t seem to flow nicely with his more barbaric aesthetic. Romulus made a mental note to, later on, have some custom-made clothes sewn together that would better suit him.

“So, you could do this the entire time?” The king asked.

“Ja, I just chose not to because I saw no reason to do so.”

“Wow,” Now that the king was really looking, he began to notice the similarities between this man and the wolf he had so lovely cared for. Beneath his lips, wolfish fangs glimmered where canine teeth would be on a human; slightly covered by his hair were very obviously pointed ears. Like the wolf, the man had an air of supernatural intelligence and strength about him. Even without his defined muscles, it was evident to anyone with half a brain that this entity was powerful. The real question was  _ how _ powerful.

“Then, why now? Why not a few days ago, or shortly after I found you?”

At this, he paused.  _ Why did he chose now? _ The man mulled over this question for a bit, eyes planted on the ceiling in thought. Once happy with his answer, his bold gaze returned to the king’s warm amber, “I have been slightly confused about my feelings towards you for a while now. I am fairly certain I have sorted them out at this point, and therefore felt that I should share them.” At this, Romulus’s eyebrows skyrocketed.

He brought the wolf home that fateful afternoon without really thinking about it. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined some spur of the moment decision leading to  _ this. _ After all, if he was going to say what Romulus thought he was going to say, this would be a pretty big deal. The king would most definitely say yes; it wasn’t as if he was  _ only _ attracted to women. Sure, he talked about how wonderful breasts were far more often than not, but that didn’t mean he despised the male body, much less the idea of sexual interaction with another man. Yes, Romulus could see himself happily marrying this surprisingly handsome beast. It would certainly get the royal court off his case, and maybe they could even adopt a few children! That would be great! He was thinking five kids, strong boys that would be trained to fight by their old man at a young age, and at least one beautiful daughter for the men of the house to threaten the suitors of. He bet the wolf would be good at that; he had just the right build and cold, terrifying emotionlessness to be perfect at intimidation-

“From now on, I have decided to be your new protector.” Oh. Didn’t see that coming.

“What?” Romulus blinked once, twice, looking at him in surprise.

“You heard me, correct?” His blond eyebrow raised about a fraction of an inch. “ I am going to be your guardian.”

“Yes, but… why?”

“It is the least I can do after being such a burden for the past few months. You took me in when others would have just left me for dead; either that or finished the job themselves. You are a human-king, are you not? There must be people out there who would want to kill you.”

Romulus sputtered incomprehensibly for a moment. “Well, yeah, but- what- how- what?! Is that even allowed? For spirits to do that?!”

He shrugged, “I do not see why not. It is not as if there are rules or something, especially not for these circumstances.”

“So is this just a thing that’s happening or-” The king cried out as his companion suddenly reached towards him, hand forcefully pressed to his face. As wolf began to chant in a foreign tongue, amber eyes widened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! So, this is 1.2, &, yeah... I don't really have much to say here, to be honest. In case you haven't noticed, I'll be updating this once a day until the AO3-posted SAS is completely caught-up, then afterwards I'll probably go on hiatus to continue writing things up. It all just sort of depends on a variety of factors, you know?  
> But yeah, in this chapter we get a good look at Romulus's first impressions on Aldrich & vice-versa! Yay!  
> Anyways, now that I've had my daily ramble, I guess I'll see you tomorrow!


	3. 1.3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Rome x Germania  
> Warnings: Mild violence

-1.3-

The only way to describe it was like the tumbling of water down a rocky crag, into a shallow lake. There was so much energy flowing about, Romulus felt as if he would explode from the intensity. And then, it became stronger. Before he knew it, the king was no longer in his own body; hell, he wasn’t even human. He was too close to the ground for that to be so. Romulus was running, or at least from he could tell, grass and twigs zooming by beneath him. He looked ahead to see a light brown blur dashing between large, looming trees that reminded him distinctly of the intricate pillars that lined the palace halls. He began to speed up, ignoring the strain on his lungs in favor of catching his prey. In one mighty leap over a log, his momentum carried him across the last stretch, tackling the doe he’d been chasing. His wild claws sunk deeply into the animal’s fur and skin, causing red to well up as he tore through its neck in an animalistic fashion, ripping out its throat. This would make an adequate meal for himself and the others.

The next scene took place in a small clearing. Romulus sat near the tree line, licking the doe’s blood from his claws. A ways away were a group of other animals that he was certain were spirits as well. He wasn’t quite sure how he knew this, but somehow he did, and was very persistent on it. He looked over to the others, watching quietly as they ate away at the prey he and his fellow hunters had caught. In appreciation for bringing back food, the hunters of the group always got first pick of the catch. Always modest, he had clawed off a decent chunk of the doe’s leg, then retreated to the nook he currently sat in, the roots of a particularly large oak making a nice seat. It was comfortable for sleeping, but the tree jabbed unpleasantly in just enough places to keep his rest light, in case anything bad were to happen.

From then on, Romulus found he had difficulty keeping track of what happened and in what order. He couldn’t figure who he was either- Romulus or the wolf? Was there even a difference anymore? They felt like the same person. He was almost certain they  _ were _ the same person. Had there ever been a time when he wasn’t like this? Wasn’t perfectly in tune with another? That must have been awfully lonely. He couldn’t imagine wanting to go back to that after this experience. Although it was kind of terrifying, having someone bare all of their memories to him, he found it wasn’t nearly as horrible as he would have thought beforehand. In the back of his mind, there was a warm, comforting buzz that emanated all throughout his skull, easing him through it all. However, this wasn’t nearly as strong as the feeling of losing himself to all of these moments, all of these carefully documented and filed events. As he fell deeper into his head, he felt a strange tugging at his conscious, like something sifting through his life story as well. Ordinarily, this would make him uneasy, just allowing someone to see his entire record of conscious thought, but, strangely enough, he didn’t actually mind. He was perfectly fine with this. He knew that while his mind was being invaded, he was invading someone else’s as well, somehow making this an alright turnout of events.

He fluttered in-between thoughts and visions, feeling a sense of pride well up inside him at an especially successful hunt, internally grimacing that one time he was outsmarted by a small rabbit. In spring, he carefully stalked drowsy prey, still recuperating from hibernation; in summer, his little brothers would insist they swim and play in the nearby lake; in autumn, he would pick apples with his siblings for the youngest; in winter, they would cuddle together for warmth beneath his tree. These were some of the few times he really let himself loose, when he was with his siblings. He was the oldest of three brothers, the youngest an arctic wolf, the middle and him gray. The arctic wolf was very sweet, always offering to help others, his main weakness besides a lack of physical strength being his absolute  _ obsession _ with apples. The middle was much more bold than his brothers, openly causing trouble and mischief in his wake.

In all honesty, the three’s parents died when they were very young, back when the youngest was just a pup. The main problem with this, besides the oldest having to take care of his brothers, was that the middle and oldest didn’t actually know which was older between the two of them. If they’d ever known in the first place, they’d forgotten who was born when in the time of their lives between their parents’ hazy-at-best deaths and when they joined their community. Based on the youngest’s naïvity and immature nature, they assumed he was the youngest, but they really didn’t know which of the other two was older. The reason he was thought of as the eldest wasn’t because they knew he was older, but because he was simply stronger, smarter, and more level-headed than the middle. He could fulfill the duties of being big brother of watching over and sustaining the other two much better than the middle. And so, the brothers decided the ‘youngest’ would be the youngest, the ‘middle’ would be the middle, and the ‘oldest’ would be the oldest. However, for reasons unknown to him, the middle was very determined to one day defeat the oldest in a sparring match and declare himself big brother. Besides the middle sneaking up on him almost daily, almost getting parts of his body bitten off, the brothers lived in relative peace over the years he spent here, the younger two always finding new ways to spice up his day-to-day routine with their shenanigans.

Then, something weird happened. He was conversing with the ‘leader’ of his small community of spirits about investigating some suspicious occurrences farther north, when it seemed the other realized where -or when- he was, purposefully blurring out the rest of the scene. For a while, he still experienced the memories, but everything was much hazier than before, only feelings really registering with him. The rest was merely fogged-over, but enough so that he could barely tell what was going on. All he could piece together was that he was somewhere much colder than the location of the other scenes, had a short, yet blood-boiling interaction with someone, was attacked by what felt like a million wolves, then got himself out of there as fast as he could. Then, the cloud was lifted.

He had been running for a very long time, his entire body protesting weakly, but knew he had to continue on. If he didn’t, those unholy creations of shadow-magic would catch him. It was broad daylight out, but he had learned from unfortunate experience that the rumor of black magic not working during the day was simply that: a terrible, misleading rumor that had almost cost him his eye. As the autumn leaves made soft  _ crunching _ sounds beneath his paws, he found he could no longer do this. He just couldn’t. He couldn’t continue, not in this health. Falling down the hill to the bottom, he couldn’t help but think about how the rest of the group would perceive this. He’d been gone a long time, more than a few rotations of the moon. Surely they would think him dead by now? However, this was banished to the back of his ever-fading consciousness as a loud sound interrupted his thoughts. Above him was a large creature he had never seen before, a gray beast with short fur on all of its body except it's rear and the back of its neck, curtains of stormy-gray cascading downward. Dismissively, he closed his eyes, knowing this was the end. He was going to be killed by some foreign beast in some foreign land, far away from his community, in an incredibly poor, rotten, probably infected state. He looked like road-kill, and soon, that’s all he would be: yet another corpse laying on the side of the old, dirt road, waiting for vultures to pick his bones clean of skin, clean of meat, clean of flesh, clean of everything that made him what he was.

“Salve? Are you with me?” His eyes lazily blinked open to see- wha-  _ himself _ . His brow was creased with worry, chocolate brown curls bouncing with every movement. His amber eyes were widened just slightly, his lips downturned in an innocently concerned pout, a bit of stubble grazing his chin. Man, Romulus knew he was handsome, but in this moment, he looked downright  _ angelic. _ That, and the sun, high in the afternoon sky, creating a halo-like ring around his head helped too. His eyes closed once more, and Romulus could feel himself being forcefully grounded to his body, the presence that had clearly been there leaving.

When he came back, Romulus grabbed onto the shining floor for stability, panting like someone who’d almost drowned.

“Herr Vargas,” the world still spinning, Romulus opened his eyes once again to see the wolf before him, holding out a hand.

He gave a shaky smile and tried to stand on his own, dismissing his help, only to fall flat on his face immediately afterwards. Or, at least, he would have if the wolf had not swiftly grabbed him by the arm, stabilizing his position before setting him down on a chair.

“You should not try to stand so soon.”

“Wha- what was that?” Romulus slurred. He felt like he had a hangover.

“I suppose you humans would call that a ‘bonding exercise.’” The other reached behind the king, placing a soft, beautifully decorated pillow in between his back and the chair. “I have now, in summary, magically bound us together. In return for the impeccable hospitality you have shown me, I will protect you for the rest of your life. Either that, or for as long as you will have me.”

Sure enough, he felt a smaller, muted but still definitely there, version of the comforting buzz that had subconsciously held his hand throughout. Exhausted, Romulus fell asleep in that chair to the warm, steady feel of his wolf’s spirit. The next day, he didn’t wake up until well past noon.

* * *

 

Golden rays of sunlight shone pleasantly onto Romulus’s face as he blinked open equally dazzling eyes. Last night, he slept wonderfully; he felt like a whole new person! Yawning with an endearing smile, the king sat up in bed and lazily looked about his room. Crimson curtains, marble floors, metallic yellow walls, no wolf on the bed- Wait,  _ no wolf on the bed?! _ With a start, Romulus remembered the events of last night and looked around the room more frantically now.

“Are you alright?”

He breathed a sigh of relief as his wolf exited the bathroom, still wearing his clothes for lack of his own.

“Humans are such strange creatures. Through your memories, I was able to learn more about your society and customs, but I do not believe I will ever grow used to them. Why on Earth would you release waste into a hole in the ground? Better yet, why would you try to cover up the stench? In the wilderness, you excrete on things as a sign of your dominance over the area. Humans make absolutely no sense.”

Romulus soon found himself grinning, holding back full-on laughter from bubbling out of his mouth at his wolf’s monologue. He could tell already; having the other around was going to be very, very fun.

Then, it suddenly occurred to him that he didn’t know his personal bodyguard’s name. Romulus felt very inadequate. He had seen almost all of the other’s life flash before his eyes, but not once did anyone use his name. It was all ‘hey, you,’ ‘you there,’ and ‘you, with the gray fur.’ That was it.

“Hey, if you know my name, then how come I don’t know yours?”

The wolf gave him a long look, the gears in his head turning. What for, Romulus didn’t know. “I do not have one. It was never necessary. Although, I suppose it sort of makes sense for humans to have them. You live in much larger groups than spirits like myself, correct?”

He frowned, “But, if you’re going to stay here, you should have a name too. I can’t just go around calling you ‘wolf’ all the time, can I?”

The other shrugged, “I do not mind. As long as you do not call me anything that is meant to be an insult, I have no issue with you picking a name.”

Romulus thought for approximately ten seconds before shouting: “Aldrich!”

“What?” He raised an eyebrow in puzzlement.

“Aldrich! It’s a name I heard from somewhere up north, and I feel it suits you!” The king grinned broadly at his accomplishment. “From now on, since you didn’t have one, your new name is Aldrich!”

“In that case,” ‘Aldrich’ stood straighter, looming over Romulus, the air growing cold and serious, “I, Aldrich, a wolf spirit, solemnly swear to protect you with my life.”

And that was when he realized that he was in for quite a bumpy ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! This chapter went into much, much more detail as to Germania's backstory in this AU.  
> Oh, and by the way, I'm more than happy with comments you know. Like, seriously. I don't bite. (Much.)  
> Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow!


	4. 1.4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Rome x Germania, Rome x Ancient Greece  
> Warnings: References to violence, extreme historical inaccuracies

-1.4-

There was a party at the palace. Inside, the ballroom had been decorated splendidly with golden drapery, and musicians played a variety of exotic instruments as the guests danced and drank themselves stupid. Earlier, Aldrich had stood by his charge’s side, witnessing the most powerful people at the event’s small meeting of sorts. They had spared about five seconds or so to the topic of the human-king’s new bodyguard, then continued with discussing politics and the like. In the short time he was there, Aldrich could tell that this frivolous human was actually much more intelligent than he let on, but, judging by the amount of expensive wine he’d consumed in only an hour, it took a lot out of him to think to this extent. He’d gotten so drunk he actually told Aldrich to take a break.  _ He told his main protector to ‘take a break.’ _

And so, Aldrich sat on a bench in the palace gardens, ‘taking a break.’ In the week or so since he’d sworn his allegiance to the human-king, he’d been given his own ‘clothing’ to wear. Unlike the human-king’s valuable robes of crimson and marble-colored silk, Aldrich was given much more practical, cotton tunics, trousers, and leather boots. Along with these, he also had ‘formal wear’ shoved in his face, which he purposely ‘forgot’ to wear tonight, and a northern suit of iron, plate armor, which he purposely ‘forgot’ to take off and replace with the superfluous formal wear. If he was going to protect the human-king, he was going to do it properly and  _ not _ in silks that could be easily cut through. Aldrich sighed.

_ Humans are so strange. _

“Aldrich, hey!” Speak of the devil and he shall appear. He heard a loud  _ plop _ next to him, glancing over to see his charge. The human-king had the largest grin Aldrich had ever seen plastered upon his face, a faraway look in his amber eyes. He wrapped a sun-kissed arm around his neck, and the ‘wolf’ received a nose-full of the sickly strong scent of wine, noticing the almost-empty bottle clutched in the other’s opposite hand. Definitely intoxicated.

“Everyone inside was asking about you!” The human-king began, “‘Is it true you’re keeping a wolf in the palace?’ ‘Did you really manage to get a  _ spirit _ as a servant?’ It made me miss you!”

“So you abandoned all of your guests in favor of finding me?”

“Yes!” The other jeered, holding him even tighter. “I missed you.” The human-king turned his head to look directly at him, and suddenly Aldrich noticed just how close they were. “Aldrich, have I ever told you you’re very handsome?” His drunkenly dilated eyes became half-lidded as his voice took on a more sultry tone. Then, that other hand started wandering, and the ‘wolf’ leaped up from the bench, entire face aflame.

“Wha- that is inappropriate! It is against human customs for a- a protector and his- his-” Aldrich didn’t like this one bit. His face was feverishly warm, his heart felt about ready to stop, and there was an incredibly uncomfortable fluttering sensation in his gut.

“Aww, but Aldrich!” His charge whined loudly, “Why do you have to be such a kill-joy?”

“No.” He regained his bearings and firmly planted his arms across his chest, “We are  _ not _ doing that.”

In response, the human-king simply flopped off the bench, mumbling something about a ‘no-good barbarian’ into the grass.

* * *

 

The human-king was getting married. Aldrich didn’t quite know what to think of this. According to his charge, she was a human-princess from a more eastern territory of the empire, and the two of them had copulated a few times in the past. ‘One-night stands,’ he’d called them. The ‘wolf’ wasn’t entirely sure whether he should be happy or not. This was a good thing, the human-king getting married, because it meant that the royal court wouldn’t be so harsh on him, and perhaps he would be more active about taking care of himself; maybe Aldrich wouldn’t have to remind him to brush his hair in the morning.

However, what if, as soon as they wed, the human-king would forget about him? Marriage was a big thing, and certainly a lot was going to change with this new development. At the very least, Aldrich probably wouldn’t be allowed to sleep at the foot of the bed in his wolf form anymore, seeing as human couples normally shared a bed. Surely, the human-king’s new wife wouldn’t be very comfortable with a wolf spirit sleeping in the same bed as them. Aldrich would most likely be forced to sleep on the floor like an average dog; either that, or he would be given a new room, something far worse than the first option, seeing as he wouldn’t be able to properly guard the human-king in his sleep that way.

And today he was going to meet the girl that would quite possibly get in-between him and his charge. Great.

“Athena!” The human-king grinned as a woman a few years or so older than him entered the garden sitting area they had chosen to meet in.

“Khaíre, Romulus! It’s been a long time!” This ‘Athena’ was admittedly quite beautiful, her dark brown hair cascading over her shoulder, slightly messy ringlets held together with a sky blue ribbon. While the human-king was all warm tones of passionate crimson and gold, this woman was almost the exact opposite, her color pallet composing of shades of silver and blue that gave off an air of refined sophistication. Her skin somehow looked to be a cooler tone than the human-king’s, despite both being a nice shade of olive-tan, and her eyes were an ice blue that reminded Aldrich of the cold, winter water of the northern seas. In stark contrast to most of the palace and royal decorations, she wore finely-made robes of baby blue, designed to resemble the togas of the goddesses of the eastern peninsula.

And yet she and the human-king greeted each other like old friends.

Aldrich shifted uncomfortably in place behind his charge, gaze locked emotionlessly on the future human-queen.

As if he only just noticed the other’s presence, the human-king suddenly turned to his protector. “Ah, yes! Athena, this is my personal guard, Aldrich! Aldrich, this is my betrothed, Princess Athena Karpusi of the eastern peninsula.”

The human-princess smiled at him, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet the famed spirit sworn to protect my fiancé. I sincerely hope that like with Romulus, you will come to care for me as well.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” Aldrich replied mechanically. He didn’t trust this woman.

“Please, sit!” The human-king excitedly gestured to the seat across from him. The human-princess graciously took his offer and sat herself down.

Throughout their conversation, anyone could clearly tell their eccentric conflict of personalities. The human-king was quite frivolous, wanting only to plan what delicious, high-quality food they were going to serve at the wedding, while the human-princess was wise beyond comparison, wishing to instead have a deep interaction about philosophy and the meaning of life. She was very intelligent. Even more intelligent than the human-king when talking about battle strategies, as Aldrich had witnessed numerous times.

By the end of the human-princess’s stay, Aldrich distrusted her even more than he did originally.

* * *

 

On the night of the wedding, Aldrich found himself standing in the palace gardens once more, staring hopelessly at the sunset as the after-party raged on inside. Throughout the entire ceremony, he’d stood stock-still near his charge, knowing this would be the night everything changed. He was scared.

“Hey, there you are!” Aldrich tensed as the,  _ now married _ , human-king rushed towards him, footfalls making soft  _ thumps _ on the late-spring grass. “What’s with you and running off during parties?” He panted slightly from running around looking for his bodyguard.

“I do not like them. They are filled with intoxicated humans. You remember the last time you were intoxicated, correct?”

“Yeah, but… are you okay? You seem kind of distant.”

Aldrich didn’t look over at his charge, “I am fine.”

“No, you’re not!” The human-king was probably pouting by now, “Stop saying you are!”

“If that is what you wish, then I will stop.”

“Wait, that actually works?”

“Why would it not? I swore to serve you, remember?”

“Oh. Then tell me what’s wrong.”

Aldrich’s intense gaze hardened, “There is some strange, human feeling in my gut I do not understand.”

“What?”

“You sound baffled. I thought surely, one who experiences such loud emotions would be able to explain this to me. I must admit I am slightly disappointed.”

“Wha- hey! I’m sure I could tell you what that is if you would just open up about stuff! It’s like you never tell me anything anymore!” He whined, resting his forehead on Aldrich’s armored shoulder with an audible  _ bonk. _ “I don’t like secrets.”

“And I do not like telling them.”

“Fine, then let’s talk about something else!” He automatically rebounded, hugging the other’s arm, “How come you always call me ‘human-king?’ Do spirits not have royalty?”

Aldrich raised an eyebrow at the peculiar question, “No, spirits do not normally have nations and empires like you humans do. Like with names, they are unnecessary.”

“Then what do you have?”

He paused for a moment, recalling now-old memories of his communities, “Well, first of all, we do not have any hierarchy or caste system. Our ‘towns’ are more like your ‘communities,’ in which no one is really ‘in charge’ and everyone is equally important. We all carry our own weight, and these groups are mainly just for protection and easy access to food.”

“Hmm,” The human-king pondered this information for a moment before saying, “Then who was that one spirit in your memories that you were talking to about trouble in the north?”

“A ‘manager’ of sorts. Most communities have one or two spirits that keep track of the number of hunters, the food stores, the number of pregnant spirits, so on and so forth. Like I said, no one is really the ‘leader,’ but there  _ are _ spirits especially designated for management of the community.”

“What were you?”

“Hmm?”

“What did you do in your community? You were a hunter, right?”

“Yes, I was a hunter,” Aldrich spared a glance at the human-king, his face having taken on that rare look, that look in which he seemed to actually think about more than just sex, food, and violence. “I am surprised you remembered that.”

“And yet they sent you to investigate whatever was going on.” It was a statement, not a question. His charge seemed frustrated by something.

“Yes, because I was one of the strongest. They were concerned that if no one did anything about the black magic that had overtaken the northern isles, we would all be in grave danger.”

The two stood in comfortable silence for a while, just watching the twilit sky, the groom of the wedding still clutching onto Aldrich’s arm like a lifeline. “Aldrich… ?” He lazily murmured.

“Yes?”

“What happened to you, the day we first met?”

The ‘wolf’ took a deep breath. “I went up north to find out what was going on, just as I was asked to.”

“And?” Their eyes met, warm amber against cool green.

“And… there was a woman.”

At this, the human-king raised his eyebrows in puzzlement. “A woman?”

“Yes, a witch. I still remember the look on her face as she sent those shadow wolves after me: fiery hair whirling all about, fierce green eyes, unusually large eyebrows. She was a dark mage. She almost killed me.”

“But she didn’t.”

“But she did not.”

“Do you think your community misses you?”

“I am certain they think me long-since dead by now.”

The other let go of Aldrich’s arm, only to reach up and grab a tuft of blonde hair.

“What are you-”

“Braiding,” He simply said with a grin. “I want to lighten the mood.”

Aldrich sighed and held still, a light blush coloring his cheeks. After a few minutes, his charge returned his hands to his sides and declared, “There! All done!”

He brought tentative fingers to his hair, to feel the soft bumps of woven-together locks. He turned to the other, “What, does this make me more beautiful or something?”

The human-king laughed with a wink, “Just promise you won’t take it out, okay?”

“Of course.” Aldrich found he couldn’t help the slight, upward tugging on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Just so you're aware, the last chapter of part 1 is 1.5, A. K. A. the next chapter. After that will be part 2, then an intermission, then whatever I have of part 3 at that point. Part 3 will be the last part, and after that will be a sequel focused on Spamano in this AU.  
> Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow!


	5. 1.5 (Part 1 Finale)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Rome x Germania, Rome x Ancient Greece  
> Warnings: Major character death

-1.5-

Several years went by. Much to Aldrich’s relief, the now human-queen really was just an intelligent, kind-hearted soul that happened to be close friends with the human-king. During her entire reign, not one assassination occurred, only attempted or otherwise. About a few months or so after the wedding, Queen Athena  _ Vargas _ announced her pregnancy, and a year later she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl by the name Sophia. She had her mother’s cooler skin tone, her father’s unruly mess of brown hair, and stunning green eyes that, strangely enough, neither of her parents had. Most were convinced this was a physical manifestation of Aldrich’s magical connection to the father; personally, he believed it to be one of those genetic disorders humans were sometimes born with.

Sophia was the empire’s darling. All who saw her absolutely fell in love with that charming smile and lovely, heart-shaped face. And, as she grew, Sophia loved the empire in return. She liked everyone, no matter what their religion, background, or appearance. She was just as wise as her mother, and yet, like her father, always insisted on enjoying the rich pleasures of life. Without a single doubt, Sophia would make an amazing human-queen when she came of age. She loved people, puzzles, and  _ living. _ Admittedly, Aldrich should have seen it coming when a young, four year old Sophia became instantly attached to him; she always did remind him distinctly of the human-king that was her sire.

“Ricky! Ricky!” Aldrich looked behind at the nick-name the little one had given him, to see her rushing down the palace hall in his direction. “Ricky!!”

The little girl pounced on him, only to be caught under the arms by his large hands. “Little one, you should not run in the halls.”

“Aldrich!!” Just as he set the small child down on her feet, he was tackled from behind.

“I thought I told you not to approach me from behind anymore.” He said simply, his entire body tensed.

The human-king huffed jokingly, “Aww, come on ‘Ricky!’ Live a little!”

“The reason I do not like it when you sneak up on me is that I am worried I will accidentally mistake you for an enemy and stab you in the gut.”

“Alright, alright, fair enough.” He reluctantly let go of his hostage, turning his affections towards his daughter.

“Daddy!” She giggled as her father lifted her into the air, making strange noises that he supposed were meant to somehow resemble a horse’s whining neigh.

_ Humans are still so bizarre to me, even after all these years. _

“Sophia!” And then, of course, the child’s mother showed up.

“Mommy!” The little girl smiled even wider at seeing her mother, who immediately joined the human-king in making those eccentric sounds.

Sighing deeply in exasperation, the ‘wolf’ turned and continued down the hall, leaving the frivolous royals to their own devices. Surely, two military commander-level nobles could hold their own while protecting their daughter if something were to happen, right?

* * *

 

“Ricky!” King Romulus looked up from the scrolls spread out upon the dinning room table. Of course, in the entryway stood his ever-faithful bodyguard, his now ten year old daughter using his leg like a ladder.

He grinned as the ‘wolf’ tried to pry Sophia off of him, lecturing her about the dangers of ‘reckless actions’ like that. “Hey, Aldrich!”

He paused and stood to attention, temporarily ignoring the child climbing up his leg, “Yes?”

“Come see the pictures we drew!”

Head tilted slightly in confusion, the other approached the table warily, the little girl swiftly jumping back onto the marble floors. The papyrus scrolls were filled to the brim with… drawings! Some were only stick figures, obviously done by Sophia, while others were perfect portraits, clearly drawn by the ever-handsome Romulus. However, throughout the innocent doodles was a clear theme of family and palace life; the largest drawing, located in the center of the strange symphony of artwork, had four figures posed together. In the middle was a grinning man with a curly train-wreck of brown hair, tan skin, and amber eyes scrunched slightly from the broad grin stretched across his face. Standing to his left was a slightly non-proportionate woman drawn entirely with a lovely shade of sky blue, her face holding a more refined, yet just as loving expression. In between them was a little girl of pink, her hair held back in a nice bun and her eyes closed, an almost blinding smile unabashedly plastered upon her face.

Romulus could tell exactly when Aldrich saw the fourth figure. His eyes widened just a pinch, his whole body tensed, and his eyebrows furrowed further. The final person in the picture stood to the king’s other side, his hands neatly folded behind his back, body straight and orderly, far better than any average soldier of the empire. His long, blond hair fell into his face on one side, a small side-braid still located where the king had left it on his wedding night. Romulus knew the ‘wolf’ had to have taken it out eventually, but it warmed his heart to think he took the time to re-do it every morning as a part of his routine. While the king and his queen had began to develop the wrinkles that came with adulthood, Aldrich looked every bit as youthful as he had the day he revealed himself; he hadn’t aged at all. His armor gleamed just as it did in real life, his skin was the unusually fair pallor the king had become used to over the years, and his grass green eyes seemed to stare down the viewer with the same intensity as the real thing. Between the picture and the actual person, only one thing differed.

Aldrich straightened and cleared his throat, “If you do not mind, I was planning on practicing my swordsmanship. I worry if I do not get off my arse at least once in awhile, I will grow soft and pathetic. Like humans.”

As his bodyguard ran off in a noticeably faster pace than usual, the king couldn’t help but laugh. Unlike his real life equivalent, the ‘wolf’ in the picture had a soft, contented smile on his lips.

* * *

 

Many years flashed by in an instant. With each fleeting moment, the human-king and his wife seemed to grow old and die before him. Around age sixty, Queen Athena of the eastern peninsula passed away from an unknown disease. The doctors didn’t know how to treat it, so her fate was as good as sealed several months before her life finally came to an end. In the time after her death, Princess Sophia, now in her mid-twenties and happily married off to a nobleman from across the southern sea, came to visit her father and his ever-faithful protector, who still hadn’t aged a day. In her anguish, the human-princess and heiress apparent locked herself up in her childhood room for an entire rotation of the full moon, only opening up to her husband.

They all coped with this cruel loss in different ways. The human-princess isolated herself, the human-king blatantly ignored his misery, and the ‘wolf’... well, he didn’t know what to think. The dead human-queen was a very strong, intelligent woman, and she balanced her often-times distracted husband nicely. Aldrich respected her. While some might have disagreed, he thought Queen Athena had made a great human-queen, despite the wild spirit inside him still believing the human-hierarchy to be incredibly stupid, even for such a bizarre group of creatures. To his contentment, not too much negative change came with her adoption into his life. For all of her time living with the human-king and his guardian, Aldrich was still allowed to sleep at the foot of the bed in his wolf form, wander the gardens at his leisure, and for the most part do whatever he wished. Although he had more responsibilities when it came to his charge’s happiness and well-being, he was fairly satisfied with the situation.

But now the human-queen was dead. Although his charge tried so hard to cover his internal mourning, Aldrich could see the strain in his smile. He noticed the light bags under his eyes, and how his hair seemed slightly less oiled and brushed than before. For as long as the human-king brought stargazer lilies from the gardens to his wife’s grave, the royal’s protector couldn’t help but to think about all the years he’d spent here. He thought about how the human-princess was born, raised, and grew up in the time Aldrich had been there, and while she visibly matured, he looked exactly like he did thirty years ago. Queen Athena was  _ dead _ for crying out loud, and Aldrich hadn’t aged whatsoever.

And then there was his charge. As he came to terms with heartless mortality, the ‘wolf’ felt an all too-familiar uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. It was the same feeling he got on the human-king’s wedding night, that sickening twist of nerves he just couldn’t shake off.

Aldrich had by now realized that he  _ hated _ feeling afraid.

* * *

 

“Aldrich…” The human-king gave his closest companion a warm smile, despite his poor condition.

“Shush now, you need to rest.” He reprimanded half-heartedly in return, laying a damp towel on the old man’s forehead.

At age seventy-six, roughly forty-three years after their initial meeting, exactly nineteen years after the death of his wife, King Romulus Vargas laid in his bedroom, dying. The only one allowed to be at his side in these final moments, like he’d been for over four decades, was the stony-faced wolf spirit that had sworn his allegiance to him. It took a long time, but Aldrich eventually managed to piece together the broken man once his wife passed and his daughter married off. For three full years after Queen Athena’s demise, the palace was just as it had been before the human-king wed, but somehow, it felt emptier. Isolated.  _ Terrible. _

His charge was a social butterfly, and the ‘wolf’ knew very well by now that the silly human, the one who saved his life that fateful autumn day, simply couldn’t stand to be alone after having company for so long. Even before marriage and children, every time some important royal of some large territory within the empire left after staying for a long while, the human-king would shut himself up in his room, pouting at the loss of perfectly good ears to babble aimlessly at. This was just one of the hundreds of things Aldrich could now recite from memory about his charge. Take, for example, that while the human-king loved when his royal chefs flavored his food with spices brought in from the far east, he utterly despised that unusual leaf-drink that was so highly favored among nobility. Also, he absolutely adored the wolf-like animals called ‘dogs,’ especially the smaller ones. He would always gush about how cute they were, meaning there were about a million or so of these things roaming about the empire to keep him happy. His favorite colors were blood red, shinning gold, and pure white, the colors of the empire; he tended to take on this somewhat terrifying glint in his eyes when watching the gladiator fights, something that served as a reminder to his guardian that he was definitely more than just a pretty face; every morning, the human-king would down an entire fancy-looking glass of wine, two if he drank too much the night before.

And it was for all of these reasons and more that Aldrich was shaking as he gripped his charge’s hand for stability.

“Aldrich,” the old man began, “I have a confession to make.”

“It can wait.” He said hurriedly.

“No, ‘m afraid it can’t.” The human-king held a faraway look in his amber eyes, still vibrant even after all these years.

“Yes, it can. You are not dying on me. I will not allow it.” The ‘wolf’ swallowed the bile that threatened to spill out from the pit of his stomach, his throat filled with pliable lead.

His charge laughed, “You’re such a hopeless  romantic. Face it: I’m dying. I’ve lived a long life and my will’s sorted everything out. It’s simply my time to go.”

Aldrich wanted to scream. He wanted to tear his hair out and yell at the top of his lungs that no, he couldn’t go! He couldn’t just  _ leave! _ In that moment, he wanted to shout, exclaim, yell, scream, argue until his throat tore from too much exertion, and he could no longer speak, for his vocal chords would be forever ruined. He had spent so much time here, in this palace of glimmering metals and silken drapery, too much time for it all to just end with the death of his charge. His king. His  _ heart. _ He was far too emotionally invested for this.

However, he knew it wouldn’t end well if he indulged in these pain-addled visions of torture, so the ‘wolf’ nodded his head without hesitation.

The human-king sighed, “It’s been so long, since that day in the forest,”  _ You don’t need to remind me of that, _ “I remember the first time I saw your human self like it was just yesterday,”  _ It might as well have been, as far as I’m concerned, _ “To be perfectly honest with you, when you decided all on your own to be my bodyguard… I thought you were going to propose to me.”

“You- what?!” He blinked, severe confusion expressed upon his worry-filled face. “You are dying, and yet you still find it appropriate to pull ridiculous pranks?”

The weaker laughed aloud, the once bold and hearty noise transforming into a feeble coughing fit. The other immediately sprung up, fetching an equally frail glass of water and bringing it to the human-king’s lips. Once the hacking died down, he graciously drank from the glass.

“It’s not a joke, you know,” he looked at his companion, the one who’d been there for more than half of his life, and Aldrich could swear, whether it be the human-king’s weakened state or absolutely true, that there was something. There was a certain feeling communicated in those strong eyes, those eyes that never changed. Aldrich could feel bright, hot red color his cheeks.

“I- “ He could barely speak, “I do not want you to leave.”

“Nonsense!” He chuckled, “You have your whole life ahead of you. I don’t want you to get caught up in my stupid drama.”

“I do not know what I will do once you are dead. My community does not know I am alive, remember?”

“Yes, but that’s why you have to go back! You have to tell them you are, and help raise the young ones, and protect your little brothers, and hunt for the greater good, because that’s who you are! You’re not meant to sacrifice yourself for one frivolous king that can’t even keep himself alive.”

His hands clenched into fists. Deep down, he knew that naïve brashness had left with the human-king’s youth. These dying words of him rung incredibly true; he was right. However, Aldrich just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t move on with his existence, knowing that this had happened, knowing that this zaney, eccentric human-king had so deeply affected him, that he had made him feel strange and foreign emotions he hadn’t even known existed. It was utterly ridiculous, but he knew wholeheartedly that the reason he felt so attached to such an unusual person, the reason he felt like he was going to puke when the human-king’s engagement to, at the time, Princess Athena was announced, was that he had fallen head-over-heels for this stupid, handsome, all-around amazing asshole without even realizing it.

“No. I can’t do it.”

“What?” He looked at the physically younger in slight concern.

“I- I just  _ can’t. _ ” He met the dying king’s gaze, relaying more emotion into one look than he had in his entire life, “I can’t go on, not after this. I- I  _ just can’t do it. _ ” He felt a hot, burning sting in his eyes, as some so far unknown liquid dribbled down his face. “I- I-”

The old king sighed, laying back on the mattress, “Well, I guess that makes two of us. I don’t think I quite like the idea of you sticking around on Earth for like, eternity or something without me.” He flashed a grin at his bodyguard that made it seem like he rewound the hands of time. Physically, they stayed the same, both in the human-king’s bedroom, one old and frail, the other young and in his prime, but mentally, it was as if they were back thirty years ago, the noble of the two casting a mischievous grin at his guardian after pulling a particularly dastardly stunt with his royal advisor. “Grab my sword for me, will you?”

Obediently, the ‘wolf’ did as he was told, unsheathing the excellently-tempered blade from it’s decorative holding place. He then returned to his charge’s side, holding the handle out to the weaker. “Now, draw yours.”

“What are we doing?” Aldrich asked, retrieving his weapon from his side anyways.

“I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to die, I’m not dying from  _ old age. _ ”

He processed this information for a few seconds, before his eyes widened. “We are going to kill ourselves?”

The human-king laughed, “No, we’re going to kill  _ each other. _ Much better than building up the guts to punch your own ticket, don’t you think?”

Aldrich gave a low chuckle, the first time he’d ever allowed such a thing to happen, then approached the other, a tired smile gracing his face, “I suppose you make a good point there. On the count of three?”

His charge’s face split even more, his eyes weary. Soon, soon they would both be able to rest. “No, I think we can trust each other enough not to time it.”

The ‘wolf’ knelt by the old man’s side, positioning his sword for the final blow. The human-king slung an arm around his neck, holding him close in these final moments. “Ready?” He said, his amber eyes shining with a certain youthful spark the rest of his body no longer had.

His bodyguard simply nodded into the crook of his neck, afraid if he attempted to talk the words would become jumbled and gargled in the recesses of his mouth. He felt the sharp tip of the other’s sword, and in turn prodded at the crimson silks his love was so fond of. Then, there was silence. In the quiet before the storm, these two were completely in-tune with one another. They weren’t ‘Aldrich’ and ‘Romulus’ anymore; those men didn’t exist. They just  _ were _ , and for the first time in over four decades, they mentally felt each other in the same intimate way they did when the wolf of them magically bound their fates. And, in the stillness of their environment, the wolf could hear a single phrase echoing off the walls and throughout his eardrums:

_ “Te amo,” _

As the smelted iron and steel blade plunged inside him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said in the warning at the beginning, MAJOR. CHARACTER. DEATH. If you want to feel even more emotionally bruised, look up the Haley Reinhart cover of the song 'Can't Help Falling In Love;' it's basically the soundtrack of part 1.  
> So yeah, after this will be part 2, which will take place in modern times, which is basically the present of the fanfic. Therefore, part 2 is entirely written in present tense, aside from flashbacks. Heads up: the only perspectives aside from third person omniscient are first person with Ludwig (Germany), Feliciano (Italy), Romulus (Rome), and Aldrich (Germania). To figure whose perspective it is, try paying attention to specific quirks relating to each character, and if that doesn't work, see if you can use process of elimination.  
> Oh, also, Athena, the noblewoman that marries Romulus, is Ancient Greece, in case you haven't figured that out yet, and their daughter, Sophia, is meant to be the Byzantine Empire. She's named 'Sophia' in reference to the Hagia Sophia.  
> As for why Sophia has green eyes, as opposed to brown like Romulus or blue like Athena, this is just a case of simple genetics. Are you disappointed it's not magic? Hah...  
> Anyways, brown-eyed alleles are the most dominant, and I personally headcanon Rome to have a recessive green allele, since Romano has hazel eyes and Seborga has green eyes, both of them presumably direct descendants of his. Ancient Greece in this has blue eyes, of which are the most recessive, meaning she has to have two blue-eyed alleles. Because green and brown are dominant over blue, there's a zero percent chance of their children having blue eyes, but a fifty-fifty on brown or green. So yeah, it's not weird at all that Sophia has green eyes. On people being confused and blaming it on magic, this can also be logically explained, as recessive genes can be passed down for hundreds of years without being active. Green eyes must just be really, really old in this family.  
> So yeah, I guess I'll see you tomorrow!


	6. 2.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: None  
> Warnings: None

-Part 2: Modern Times-

-2.1-

I watch with pleasant curiosity as the world passes by in a colorful blur. As I press my face against the glass, a small puff of condensation fogs up the window. I grin. All of these vineyards will make a really pretty painting! I can see it already: vibrant vinery suspending grapes in every shade of vermillion and boysenberry, the sky a nice baby blue, rays of light emanating from a glowing orb above…

Suddenly, the car stops, pulling me out of my train of thought. Before the chauffer even has the chance to open it for me, I bounce out the back of the car and begin bounding towards my cousin's mansion. About halfway to the front entrance, I see a small, white bunny hopping along. In my bubbly, jovial state, I lift the rabbit into the air, holding it close to me with a giggle.

"Ve, it's you again!" I exclaim happily, "I missed you, you cute little coniglio, you~!"

Then, with a yelp, I drop the adorable animal as it transforms in my hands. Where a rabbit should be instead stands a person. His sandy blond hair, covering pointed, elongated ears, is a total train wreck, flat in some places and sticking up randomly in others, heavily decreasing the amount of intimidation intended by the glare of his moss-green eyes, and the crease in his unusually large eyebrows, with the  _ cuteness _ of it.

"Honestly, you humans have no class." He mutters grumpily to himself.

"Feli!" My attention turns to another, as my cousin rushes out of the countryside villa and pulls me into a hug.

"Cousin Francis!" I cheer, returning the embrace. "It's been so long!"

My older relative sets me down, holding me at arm's length. His zircon eyes twinkle enchantingly, "Ah, you've grown up so well. You've always been adorable, and you still are; you're just more obviously masculine~!"

"Thank you, cousin Francis!" My grin grows even larger, "Ve, do you know if fratello has arrived yet? He said they would meet me here."

"Yes, they got here yesterday. I believe they're in the sunroom," Francis smiles, "I trust you all will be joining me for lunch, oui?"

"Si! Of course!" I nod my head enthusiastically before dashing off, leaving my chauffeur, cousin, and the spirit animal bound to him in the dust.

I slam the front doors open, a gigantic, tiger orange entrance, then run through the maze of halls to the back of the house. As I sprint, I pass by golden walls covered with oil paintings of historical figures and the surrounding vineyards. My twenty-six year old cousin, Francis Bonnefoy, moved from Paris to the French countrysides outside of Marseille about five years ago, claiming he needed to 'experience l'amour of the secluded wilderness!' Every summer since then, fratello and I visit to spend three months with our favorite cousin! I absolutely love when we vacation here; it's always so warm and sunny, and the vineyards of southern France are the perfect landscapes for my artwork!

As I reach the door to the sunroom, I practically tear it off its hinges, "Fratello~!" I pounce onto my twin, "I missed you so much!"

"Ack!" He exclaims, "You idiot! What are you trying to do, make me spill my drink?"

Indeed, as I pull away, I see Lovino holding a slightly damp glass of iced tea. "I'm sorry, fratello. I just haven't seen you in so long!"

At this, his face turns a bright, angry red, "Feli, you're a moron. I just saw you a few days ago."

"Si, but those were a few days without you!" I glomp him once again, "Oh, where's Toni? Didn't he come with you?" I pause, noticing the heavy absence.

Lovino snarls, "Knowing him, the bastard's probably roaming about in the neighbors' grape fields. I swear; it's like he lives on pure trouble!"

I giggle, "But isn't that why Toni and cousin Francis get along so well?"

"Ugh, don't remind me of it," He groans in exasperation, "Those two are assholes and I hate them."

"Aww, come on, fratello. You don't actually hate them," I smile disarmingly, "You just don't like the stress they tend to cause you. It makes your face look like a tomato~!"

"Oh, fuck off!" He pushes me off him, eyes aflame as I give away a melodic little laugh.

"Anyways, do you think it's safe for us to just let him wander around like that? I think we should go find him," My eyes widen a little, thinking of all the things that could go wrong. What if Toni's shoes are untied and he doesn't know how to fix it? That would be terrible! I should know; this happens to me all the time, causing fratello to get this funny, deadpanned look on his face. Sure it makes me laugh inside every time I see it, but I can't help feeling if it happened to Toni, fratello would kill himself with a heart attack of mass irritation. I don't want fratello to die!

"Hey, snap out of it!" I look at Lovino in confusion, "You were spacing out again, captain idiota."

"Oh, sorry, fratello! I was just thinking about how Toni's shoes might be untied, and that would be really bad."

"Feliciano, please, Antonio may be a tomato-sucking bastard, but that doesn't make him  _ nearly _ as stupid as you are."

"Ve~! Okay then! I'm still going to go look for him though," I give him one final, bone-crushing hug before dashing off once again, yanking open the sunroom door to the outside world, and running towards the neighboring vineyards.

Differing from the yards of everyone else in this area, behind Francis's house is a large, romantic rose garden expertly designed with elegant strokes of cobblestone pathways, tear-shaped plots of flowers, and a handcrafted gazebo as the centerpiece. However, I don't pay any mind to the astounding scenery as I rush to the more rugged grape fields next door. Knowing Toni, there's no way he would be hanging around in such a controlled environment as Francis's gardens, as pretty as they may be! So, instead, I find myself running through the neighbor's fields, hopeful for a sighting of the elusive Toni, amber eyes peeled for either red fur or brown hair among the grapes. After a while, I pause for breath, leaning against a vine. I'm not used to so much exercise!

Then I take a good look around me.

_ Wait, where did cousin Francis's gardens go?! _

Lo and behold, instead of my dear relative's backyard somewhere off to my left, all I can see is vineyard. Vineyard, vineyard, when did I get surrounded by so much vineyard?! As I gaze, panicked, at the seemingly endless stretch of grapes around me, I begin to feel a sharp stinging in my eyes as warm, salty tears well up. I then think of the worst-case scenarios. What if I never find my way out of here? What if I die of dehydration? What if I die of starvation? What if the reason I can't leave is because there's some crazy, scary ghost-thing haunting this very vineyard? What if it kills me? What if a person kills me before the ghost gets to me? What if this person is with the mafia? What if this is all a set-up, they kidnapped Toni to lure me into a haunted vineyard, and this is an assassination so they can steal all our money from my grief-stricken fratello? Oh no, Toni's missing and I'm trapped in a haunted vineyard with an evil Mafioso who wants my money!  _ What do I do?! _

Before I have the chance to release a loud, pained cry of fear, I'm tackled to the ground, causing me to scream anyways, "DON'T KILL ME, MAFIA GHOST!"

"Hahahaha, what?" I stop crying and look up to see I'm being hugged by…

"TONI!" I cheer, returning the Spaniard's embrace.

"Hey, Feli! Long time, no see!" He grins, basil green eyes shining happily.

"Toni, Toni, Toni, Toni, Toni, how do we get out of here, Toni?" I cling to him affectionately, "Toni, I'm lost, Toni, help me!"

He laughs that mischievous little snicker of his, "Feli, calm down, okay? It's alright now, so let's go back to Francis's house. Does Lovi know you're out here?"

I nod enthusiastically, wiping the clear trails from my face, "Yeah, I told him I was going to go look for you in case your shoes were untied!"

"Feli, I'm not wearing shoes," Toni picks me up and slings me over his shoulder, "I was wandering around in my fox form."

I giggle as I stare at the ground, "I guess that makes sense. It's a good thing you were, or you could've been in big trouble!"

"Yeah, I bet I would've! Where did Francis say we were having lunch?"

"He didn't!" I smile airily, "But we can probably ask fratello; I bet he knows. Fratello knows a lot of things. I hope, for lunch, it's pasta!"

For the rest of the walk back to Francis's house, we chatter aimlessly about this and that. I tell Toni about my plans to paint as much of the local vineyards as possible, and he tells me about the tomato-filled omelet he had for breakfast that morning. Soon, we make it back to the lovely gardens behind Francis's villa, and enter the behemoth of a building once more from the sunroom.

"Ve~ Fratello!" I exclaim from Toni's shoulder.

"What the- Antonio, you stupid bastard! Put my brother down right now before you drop him or something!" Lovino fumes, "What are you, brain-dead? What could possibly make you think it's okay to do that?"

Toni begins to laugh in response as he gently sets me down, "Sorry, Lovi, I just didn't want Feliciano to get lost again!"

"Wait, AGAIN?!"

"Si! I got lost in the neighbor's grape fields." I hug fratello, "I thought for a moment there I was going to be assassinated by ghosts and Mafioso, but then Toni showed up, and now everything's okay!"

"Si, what was up with that whole 'don't kill me, mafia ghost' thing, anyways?"

I pull back to observe Lovino's expression. His practically flaming eyes are narrowed to slits, he's bright red from shoulders to forehead, his lips are twisted into an angry sneer, and at this point smoke might as well be puffing from the orifices of his face, filling the room with thick, heavy smog. Before I have any chance to hold him back, he lunges at Toni, screaming bloody murder.

"YOU STUPID BASTARD, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MIO FRATELLO?!" An adrenaline-fueled smile in his eyes and plastered upon his face, Toni narrowly evades a furious Lovino, "I SWEAR, IF YOU TRY TO HURT HIM, I'LL-"

" _ Oh, mon dieu! _ " I turn to see cousin Francis standing in the doorway to the rest of the villa, gaping at the scene before him.

"Like I said, no class." Next to him is Arthur, the cute, little bunny from earlier.

"Ciao, Francis! I went and found Toni!" I smile at them, proud of my accomplishment. The pair simply continues to look as fratello chases Toni around the sunroom, one in heartbreak as a vase falls to the floor, shattering almost immediately upon impact, one in exasperation.

Then, the Englishman of the group sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?!"

Everyone freezes and stares at Arthur. Toni pauses his escape, Lovino aims his merciless glare at the rabbit spirit, Francis appears to have salt water building up under his eyes at the loss of his expensive vase, and I cease my innocent giggling. "This is just ridiculous! You three imbeciles came here to have a good time, not to wreck our house! Now, all of you are going to leave this room, go into the lounge, and eat your triangle-shaped sandwiches while I clean this mess up."

The grouchy blond moves further into the sunroom, and as if a spell has been broken, the rest of us begin to file out, into the hallway.

"Stupid tomato bastard." Fratello whacks Toni on the back of the head.

"Ow! What did I do?"

"You were looking at me the wrong way!"

"What?"

"Antoine, would you and mon cousin cher stop arguing for once?" Cousin Francis groans, "You broke my vase and now mon petit lapin is mad again!"

"But cousin Francis, isn't Arthur always angry?" I blink.

"Oui, but this time he's  _ even more furieux than usual. _ "

The four of us enter the casual lounge of the mansion, immediately greeted by a drastic change in atmosphere. While the vast majority of the luxurious villa is very bright and open, the casual lounge is much more somber than everything else and is instead colored in sleepier tones. The walls are a powder blue, the curtains and cushions a stormy gray, and the floors a dramatic series of white, marble tile broken apart with lightning streaks of black. In the center of the room is a dark-wood coffee table, surrounded by a couch and two armchairs, decked with a silver platter of sandwiches, a bottle of sparkling mineral water, and crystal clear wine glasses.

"Hey asshole," Lovino elbows Toni, "Put on a shirt, will you?"

As I apparently hadn't noticed before, Toni is only wearing a pair of khaki shorts, perfectly showing off his kind of muscular, farm and sunlight-loving, deliciously tanned chest. Why would fratello want him to cover  _ that _ ?

"Hm?" Toni looks down at himself, having not paid any mind to it either, "Oh, hey, would you look at that!"

" _ Put on some clothes. _ " Oh, I get it now! Fratello wants Toni to put on a shirt, because he doesn't want Toni to know that he thinks he's hot! I snicker under my breath, covering my grin with a hand.

"But Lovi, why do I need to do that?"

"Because I said so! It's either that or fox form."

"Okay, mi tomate!" With a smile on his face, Toni then turns into his original form, a bright, spiritual light covering up the probably horrifying transformation. Where Toni once stood now lays a red fox, green eyes shining as his fluffy tail sweeps back and forth across the crumpled shorts left behind.

"Tch," Sneering, Lovino enters the lounge, sitting on the couch as cousin Francis takes one of the armchairs. Obedient as always, Toni follows, climbing up onto Lovino's lap and almost instantly having his fur stroked.

"Ve~ sandwiches!" I cheer, plopping down next to fratello and taking an edible, triangular prism.

"So, how have you been?" Francis begins as I nibble on a sandwich. This sandwich is really good! It's very yummy, with lettuce, meat, and what is probably some French cheese.

"Eh, school's been hell. I'm glad I get a break." Fratello answers.

"Really? I thought this year was pretty fun! I'm planning on taking some supplies out and practicing my painting on the local vineyards while we're here."

"Yeah, but that's because you didn't have my dumbass teacher!" Lovino snaps, "I mean, how the fuck did he get hired in the first place? He knows virtually nothing about entrepreneurship!"

"Ah, that's right; you're in a technical institute, oui?" Francis pours himself a glass, offering some to Lovino and myself as well.

"Just a little bit," Fratello responds, "And si, I go to an instituti tecnici-"

"And I go to a liceo artistico!"

"-But really, how am I supposed to work my way to CEO of the biggest fashion brand in Italy if my teachers are incompetent morons?! This is bullshit, I say, bullshit!"

Toni sniffs curiously at Lovino's hand, of which had stopped its gentle movements during his tangent. I place a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, fratello! Even if you don't become a big name in fashion, at least we'll still have my painting, si? Plus, there's always our family's stupid amount of money!"

Fratello glares at me. I don't think I helped.

"Speaking of the family!" Francis interrupts Lovino's irritated gaze, causing the laser eyes to be shot at him instead, "Feliciano, have you thought about finding yourself a spirit animal?"

I drop my sandwich.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! So, this was the first chapter of part 2. Yay! Part 2 takes place in modern times and follows the misadventures of the most recent generation in the Vargas family: Francis, Lovino, and Feliciano. This part also takes place in southern France, so most of the time the characters are speaking to each other in French. However, of course, the whole fanfic is written in English, so their dialogue won't actually be written in French, but you get the point.  
> Here's a list of the human-spirit binding stuff so far:  
> Francis and Arthur, who's a rabbit spirit  
> Lovino and Antonio, who's a fox spirit  
> There will be more characters later, trust me.


	7. 2.12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Minor Gerita  
> Warnings: Slight violence

-2.12-

"Feli doesn't need some perverted bastard following him around," Lovino answers for me, "He's got me!"

Right at that moment, Arthur decides to hop in, a bunny once more, and seat himself upon cousin Francis's lap. "Yes, he may have you now, but what happens when you're gone? You can't protect Feli forever." He scratches the rabbit spirit behind a big, floppy ear, causing the coniglio to close his eyes contentedly.

"Oh yeah? Watch me," Fratello snarls, "Feli doesn't  _ need _ a spirit animal."

Francis turns to me, "Feli, you have not been given a say thus far. What do you think?"

"I- I, well-"

"There, see? He agrees that getting his own paranormal asshole is  _ stupid. _ He already has Antonio to deal with!"

"Cousin,  _ s'il vous plaît _ . Stop putting words in his mouth!"

"Cousin Francis, fratello, please stop fighting-"

"Besides, Feli's innocent enough; I'm sure he can get someone to swear they'll protect him!"

"Yeah, innocent enough for someone to  _ take advantage of him- _ "

"Hey! Stop it!" I whine, "I want to get a spirit animal as much as anyone, really, but I don't want some random person off the street I know nothing about! I'm doing this at my own pace, okay?"

Lovino and Francis stare at me, their expressions unreadable. Then, Francis sighs, "Feli, listen, as much as I wish to acknowledge your opinion in all of this, you do realize how important it is to have a spirit pledge their loyalty to you, oui?"

Fratello looks down at Toni, petting the zoned-out fox.

My cousin continues, "Although the Vargas family hasn't had any political power since the collapse of Italy's monarchy, we're still treated like royalty. Hell, we're one of the most wealthy and influential families in Europe- no, the world! And as such, we have a very prestigious reputation to uphold. As descendants of King Romulus, the first human to have a spirit animal swear their allegiance to them, a monumental part of that reputation is for every one of us to be shadowed by a spirit. If not starting as a child, the bond should at least exist by the end of secondary school! So, do you see where I'm coming from here?"

I nod silently, "Si."

"Si," Fratello affirms.

Francis adjusts himself and takes a sip of his drink, "So, what were you saying about school?"

After lunch, I dash to my room for the next three months, in which some seemingly invisible staff had unpacked all of my bags. I snatch up my sketchbook, pencil, and a set of watercolor paints, along with a bottle of water and a heavy pouch of brushes. All of the above gets shoved into a messenger bag, and slung over my shoulder as I rush out the door.

"Ciao!" I call, the front door slamming shut behind me.

I excitedly prance along the dirt road that winds throughout the area, looking for the opportune spot to sit and paint. I run for a good while, until I decide to pause for a break. When I gaze in front of me, a mad grin stretches across my face. Before my eyes is a large, beautiful forest of sky-scraping trees, vibrant, healthy, summer leaves fluffing out from dark brown branches. Looking both ways, I cross the dirt pathway, entering the vivacious museum of greenery.

As I walk among the wildlife, I can't help but to compare it to the city. Fratello and I have lived and grown up just outside Rome for as long as we can remember, and the forest is nearly identical in its own, nature-filled way. The trees are the buildings; ancient oaks populate most of the area but every once in awhile, a younger tree, or even a sapling pops up from the earthy streets. A mixture of birds, squirrels, and chipmunks flit about like the abundance of tourists, especially during the warmer months, in which cameras, sunglasses, and small animals alike come out of hibernation.

I wander about like a kid in a candy store, my eyes taking in everything with a sense of amazement. Coming across a large, sturdy tree, I seat myself at its base and pull out my paints. For the next few hours, I'm in heaven! I sketch and paint the surroundings to my heart's content, then take a siesta as I wait for the paint to dry. After all, I don't want my messenger bag to get all wet and paint-splattered from the watercolors; that would be terrible! I love painting; it's only with brush in hand that I truly feel home. Colors seem to fly off the canvas or paper, blending and singing together in perfect harmony, all too similar to an expertly directed choir. It's the most extravagant of orchestras, and I compose their sweet melodies.

Finished painting for the moment, I stand and begin to explore. I take in a deep breath, completely at ease. The wind softly ruffles my hair, causing the curl sticking off the side of my head to bounce and sway; the air smells distinctly of sap and leaves; the animals are completely silent…

_ Wait, the animals are completely silent? Where did all the cute little creatures go? _

I open my eyes and my heart nearly stops. Just a few small meters away is an entirely pitch black wolf, its eyes glowing a bright, soulless red. I feel a tremble slither down my spine as a cold sweat forms on my brow. The wolf growls. I stare. All of a sudden, it lunges, and I scream. My eyes shut of their own accord, arms are lifted protectively over my face, I stumble backwards as I'm certain its sharp fangs make contact with my skin, and-

It never happens. I open my eyes and blink in fear and confusion. Instead of the- the  _ thing _ tearing my throat out, I shake at the display set before me. Right when it had jumped in my direction, a gray wolf had tackled it off-course and is now in a violent match with it. Breathing heavily, I scoot towards the trees, hiding behind one. I poke the top of my head out from my living shield and watch with bated breath as the two duke it out. As one swings a clawed paw at its opponent's face, I duck away once more with a squeak. The sounds of ferocious growling, snapping teeth, and the almost audible tear of flesh echo off the bark of the silent trees for all too long, until it all goes quiet.

Knees held to my chest, face pressed into my legs, I shake. A cool, wet object prods at my shoulder, and I release yet another noise resembling that of a mouse's squeak. Seconds later, I hear the soft padding of paws on crumbling earth. There is some shuffling, then something comes back to my direction, their feet making much louder, heavier crunches on the ground. I feel the warm sunlight that once comforted me disappear into frigid shadow, and I freeze in place.

"Are you alright?" I hesitantly lift my head in curiosity at the clearly German accent.

Standing over me is an unfamiliar man about my age. The first thing I notice about him is his height; wow, he's really tall and scary! Plus, he has these intense, piercing, ice blue eyes that kind of freak me out. I feel like they're staring into my soul. His light blond hair is neatly slicked back, exposing sharply tipped ears. My amber eyes travel to the rest of his body. He's wearing a gray tank top and black shorts that do absolutely nothing to cover up his attractively sized muscles. This would definitely make him less intimidating under different circumstances…

"Hallo?" He crouches to my level, waving a hand in front of my face, "Anyone in there?"

I quickly jump away, "PLEASEDON'TKILLMEI'MTOOYOUNGTODIEBESIDESIHAVEN'TEVENFINISHEDSCHOOLINGYETALLIWANTEDTODOWASPAINTPLUSFRATELLOWILLBEREALLYREALLYANGRYANDIFHE'SANGRYHISBLOODPRESSUREWILLGOUPANDITGOESUPENOUGHALREADYDEALINGWITHTONISOIDON'TWANTHIMTOGETAHEARTATTACKORSOMETHINGBESIDES _ IHAVEN'TEVENHADSEXYETI'MANITALIANVIRGINWHYDOYOUTHINKWEMAKEVIRGINOLIVEOILALLIWANTTODOISLIVEAPEACEFULLIFEWITHFRATELLOANDEATPASTAANDPAINTALLDAYPLEASEJUSTSPAREMEIDON'TWANTTODIEEEEEEEEE _ !" Burning tears flow down my face like a river as I beg for my life.

"Wait, what? Why would I want to kill you?" The other looks at me in bafflement.

"Wait, you mean you're not some big, mean, scary monster that wants to hurt me?" I calm down and dry my cheeks with the sleeve of my shirt.

"No, why would I do that? You're just an innocent bystander," He looks over his shoulder at a significant patch of singed leaves and dirt, a black shape on the ground that suspiciously resembles the outline of a wolf laid on its side, " _ That _ ," He gestures to the burned-in design, "was my target. I was hoping to keep it alive for interrogation, but apparently they all have some sort of self-destruct mode in place, causing an explosion if they become weak enough."

My eyes widen, "You saved my life."

He seems to tense, "Well, I wouldn't say that. I- I needed to take that thing out anyways, so-"

"Ve~ you saved my life!" I tackle him to the ground in a hug, pretending not to notice the way he stammers over his words.

"What- what are you-?! What is this nonsense?! Why are you hugging me?!"

"I'm just so happy! I can't believe it; I can't believe you actually saved me! I really thought I was going to die from that wolf-thing, but then you showed up and everything was happy! Well, except for that moment where I thought you were going to kill me, but that was just a mess-up! You saved my life and that's all that matters, because now I'm safe and sound and-"

"Ow!"

I pause and regard where my hand has landed. Right on the back of his shoulder is a large, bloody, incredibly painful-looking wound. "Oh no, you're hurt!"

He gently pries me off of him, or at least as gentle as 'prying' can be, and takes a good look at the gash himself, "Eh, it's not that bad."

"NOT THAT BAD?!" I shout, panicked, "How is this not that bad?! You have a wound the size of a sandwich platter!"

"Ja, but I've had worse. Definitely going to scar though…" He frowns at the bloody mess.

Quickly, I stand, dragging the other up with me, "Hey, what are you doing? Where are you taking me?" His protests fall on deaf ears.

A firm look of resolution glued to my face, I respond, "I'm taking you back to my cousin's mansion. You saved my life, so now I'm going to help you!"

"What- you can't just-"

"Oh yes I can!" I tug him along, "No if's and's or but's!"

For the rest of the walk home, I pull him impatiently, turning down all qualms with me assisting him. I suppose, if anyone sees us, we must be quite a strange pair, a short and kind of dirty Vargas with a spark of determination in his eyes for once, towing behind him a bulky German with a dreadful injury on his back. As we approach the villa, the wolf begins to dig his heels into the ground.

"Oh mein Gott, you have got to be kidding me," He mutters, "Oh no, no, no, no, no, you are  _ not _ spending anything extra on me."

I yank him harder, stubborn as the gravity-defying curl attached to my head, "I'm not spending extra! It's no trouble, really! Besides, you  _ saved my life _ . Why wouldn't I want to repay you?!"

Without taking any of his sometimes-colorful opinions into account, I swing open the doors of the building, heading off in the direction of the at-home infirmary. I dash upstairs, hearing my companion stumble after me, down the purple, wine-colored halls of the second floor, all the way to the fourth door on the left. Inside is a lavish bed of creamy blankets, a window over-looking the neighbor's vineyards, and a mahogany bedside desk filled with medical supplies. Entering the room, I shove the other onto the bed, then speedily close and lock the door behind me. Saved my life or not, fratello is going to be exploding when he finds out I brought a strange man I found in the woods home with me!

"You really don't need to do this-"

"Yes, actually, I do!" I grin, opening the desk drawer. I take out everything I think I'm going to need. Within a few minutes, I have gauze, bandages, a wet towel, soap, disinfectant, and a bowl of warm water laid out before me, and am in the process of pushing the wolf face-first into the mattress as he shouts against it. "Sorry about this, but I really need to clean and wrap your wound!"

I then begin to clean the jagged tear, cringing at the other's flinches and yelps as I apply the disinfectant. However, within the hour, pristine, white medical linens have been neatly wound about the wolf's injured shoulder and tied with a pretty-looking bow! He sits up from the uncomfortable position I'd forced him into, eyes scanning over his now-covered wound.

He freezes and his cheeks take on a faint tint of red, "I didn't need your help…"

I grin, "Of course you did! And even if you didn't, I still would've helped you, because you saved my life! Now, are you hungry? I bet you're hungry!"

I grab ahold of his hand and begin to prance towards the door, blabbering on about the yummy food cousin Francis's chefs can make. "My cousin Francis hired professional chefs, because he really loves good food and it would be terrible if he hired anyone but the best, don't you think? And also, there's this one guy who makes the  _ best pasta ever _ , and-"

I open the door after fumbling with the lock for a moment, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Standing just on the other side, his entire face a brilliant shade of tomato red, is Lovino.

"Ve~ Fratello!" I brighten at his presence.

"HONESTLY, FIRST YOU SHOW UP SLAMMING THE DOOR SHUT, THEN YOU COMPLETELY 'FORGET' TO SAY CIAO TO YOUR  _ OWN FUCKING TWIN _ , THEN YOU-" He pauses, suddenly noticing the third person, "WHO THE FUCK IS THAT?!"

"Oh, si!" I jump, remembering to introduce fratello to my new friend, "This is my twin brother, Lovino," I gesture to fratello, looking at my guest, "And fratello, this is-" I cut myself off.

_ Wait, I just realized I don't know his name! _

"Si? This is?" Lovino keeps a steady gaze, meeting my amber eyes with miniature bon fires inside his ones of hazel.

"Um… fratello, I may or may not have brought a complete stranger home."

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

And so, after about ten full minutes of Lovino cussing me out in Italian, Toni, this time fully-dressed, comes upstairs to see what all the commotion is about. He takes one look at the scene, then wordlessly picks fratello up, slings him over his shoulder, and starts walking in the direction of the stairs.

"Hey, you coming or what?" He calls behind him, sounding surprisingly tired. I thought Arthur was the exasperated one! Still pouting from fratello yelling at me so much, my eyes slightly damp, I nod my head and follow, the German one of the group trailing after me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! In this chapter, Ludwig finally showed up, so yeah, that happened. Also, as you can tell, Ludwig and Lovino really didn't get off on a good foot; it was the left one, as opposed to the right one. But don't worry, they sort of agree not to kill each other later on.  
> Anyways, next chapter's going to have a few hints as to the main plot, because yes, there is one, as well as some more shenanigans.  
> See you tomorrow!


	8. 2.14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, minor Spamano and Fruk  
> Warnings: Mild violence that kind of, sort of isn't

-2.14-

"So, let me get this straight: you were walking around the woods, when some sort of  _ loup démonique _ appeared out of nowhere, and attacked you," A Frenchman begins, the red-headed Italian nodding desperately, "Then," He looks pointedly at me, " _ he _ showed up and killed it, whatever it was."

"Si, si, it's the truth!" The Italian seems nearly at the brink of tears, "I- I just wanted to help him! He was wounded and-"

"Feli, shut up," His brother silences his incessant rambling, the definitely more pleasant one snapping shut at the mouth, all without breaking a furious glare from my face.

"And then," The blond speaks slowly, dragging out every word, "You decided to take him to my house to patch up his wounds, which he got while fighting that monster."

"Si!"

"It was only one, and I could've managed on my own."

"Shut up, you potato bastard! No one asked you!"

"Fratello, be nice to our guest!"

"No! I will not have some  _ testa di cazzo _ -"

"Hey, Lovi, do you think we should ask Francis about this first? I mean it is his house-"

" _ VAFFANCULO! _ "

"What- I was just saying!"

"Ve~ why can't we all just stop arguing and get along?!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The room goes dead silent at the sound of an angry, shouting, British voice. Where a bunny once was on 'Francis's lap is nothing but air, and standing beside him is a short, disgruntled Englishman with the largest eyebrows I have ever seen. The fancily clad man rises from his seat.

"I have seen enough.

"And I think…" He reaches into his coat, lowering his head. Then, he meets the gazes of everyone else in the room, "That this… is perfect!" He pulls his hand out to reveal a bouquet of roses, petals flying all over the place.

"An adorable, yet somewhat ditzy, main protagonist stumbles across a shady and cold-hearted spirit animal purely by chance. He takes the mysterious new character home and heals his wounds, after he had so daringly saved the hero's life. The main character's brother automatically hates the second lead's guts, as well as clearly harboring certain feelings of  _ l'amour passionate _ for his spirit animal; the main protagonist just so happens to have had a long discussion with his relatives about how he needs to get his own spirit soon or he'll practically be disowned in the media's eyes, the family reputation…  _ officially tarnished _ … and all of this happening during a three-month time period in the romantic, vineyard-infested countrysides of southern France,  _ la nation de l'amour _ !

"It's absolute perfection! Five-out-of-five stars! Top of the charts! Number one rating! Due to the main protagonist's bubbly, open nature being such a stark contrast to the brooding solitude only to be expected from his  _ panty-wettingly handsome _ co-star, sexual tensions are bound to arise! And, even if the main plot proves duller than anticipated, there's always the side-plot of the hero's brother and his ' _ foxy' _ companion to keep viewers on the edge of their seats! There's drama; there's suspense; there's  _ L'AMOUR _ ! What will happen to our young, moronic protagonist?! Will the two stars finally stop being socially and romantically awkward and go after that ass?! Will le jumeaux furieux et le renard make sweet, passionate love?!  _ WILL THE LOVE EXPERT OF THE CAST FINALLY WIN OVER THE DISGRUNTLED LAPIN'S AGGRESSIVE AFFECTIONS?! _ STAY TUNED FOR EACH AND EVERY MOMENT OF THE GLORIOUS, ROM-COM-LIKE SUMMER VACATION OF THE CENTURY!"

By the end of it, the Frenchman stands on a chair, one foot on the armrest, one on the seat itself, rose petals littering the floor.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WILL THE FURIOUS TWIN AND THE FOX MAKE SWEET, PASSIONATE LOVE?!'" Lovino shouts and the fighting continues.

* * *

 

"Ow, mon cher, why must you hurt me so?" The Frenchman, who has since been introduced as 'cousin Francis,' moans as he presses a raw steak to his eye. Apparently, the rabbit spirit, Arthur, liked that line about 'the love expert of the cast finally winning over the disgruntled rabbit's aggressive affections' about as much as Lovino liked the one about him and the one called 'Antonio.'

The rabbit spirit snarls, narrowing his moss green eyes, "Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because you keep saying utter rubbish as if it's gospel."

"Ve~ Cousin Francis, why did you say all that stuff about sexual tension between the two lead characters?" The more softhearted Italian, Feliciano, questions innocently, smiling as if he's talking about the weather, "Well, that is assuming I'm the main character. I mean, you did say the main character was saved by the co-star and fixed their wounds, si? Then wouldn't that make the co-star…?" He turns to me, "Hey, I still don't know your name!"

All five of the other people in the room stare at me with either blank or thoughtful looks. A cold bead of sweat forms at the sudden attention. "Um…"

"Well, spit it out, bastard!"

"Lovi, don't be mean!"

"Oh, shut up, you tomato-obsessed freak!"

"Knock it off!" Arthur sends them a deadly glare.

"Ludwig."

"What the fuck's a Ludwig?"

I feel my expression go cold, "It's my name. It's German."

"German!" Feliciano claps in joy, "I thought you were German based on your accent, but I wasn't entirely sure!"

"Tch,  _ German _ ," The word drips from Lovino's lips like venom, "Go figure. Only a German would be a big enough asshole to take advantage of  _ my _ fratello."

"Lovino, that's a generalization," The rabbit spirit scolds, "Not all Germans are terrible, terrible people. Just because we know  _ one _ German that sucks doesn't mean they all do."

"But what about Americans? Didn't you say that one time that-"

He rushes to interrupt the naïve one of the Italian brothers, "That was a heat-of-the-moment thing!"

"Ah, but mon petit lapin, didn't you also say that all Frenchmen are 'bloody frogs that deserve to burn in the pits of hell?'"

His face turns pure white, "Shut up, you bloody wanker! Stop trying to prove I'm a hypocrite!"

"What's a hypocrite?" Feliciano grins absently.

"It's some bastard that says not to do something then goes and does it themselves."

He gasps, "That sounds horrible! Arthur couldn't be one of those; he's too adorable as a bunny to be so mean!"

"Mais oui, that is the harsh reality of life: oftentimes, those that seem the most innocent are anything but," Francis stares intently at Feliciano before muttering to himself, "Quel est votre secret?"

"Hey, tomato-bastard, you in there?" Lovino addresses Antonio, drawing the room's gazes to him, "You've been strangely quiet."

He jumps slightly, startled, "Huh? Oh, sorry, Lovi~ I was just thinking about something."

The Italian raises an eyebrow, "Oh? Well that's something new. What were you thinking about?"

"Heheh, just wondering what a German wolf spirit would be doing in the middle of southern France is all. Nothing to worry about!" He scratches the back of his neck.

"Quel es-tu couvrir?" I hear Francis mumble in the background.

"Well?" Lovino's harsh attention shifts to be aimed at myself.

"What?"

"Well, what were you doing here? I hate to admit it, but the bastard's got a point. It's suspicious for someone like you to just randomly be in the area when my idiota fratello is being attacked by a magic wolf-thing. The fuck is wrong with you, being in the wrong country?"

"It's kind of a long story."

Antonio shrugs, "Eh, we've got time."

I nod and take a deep breath, "Strange things have been going on in the north."

"Which north?" Arthur interrupts, "The Nordic region or Great Britain?"

"Great Britain," He nods in acknowledgement, "As I was saying, strange things have been happening in the north-"

"What kind of strange things?" This time, Francis is the one to pause the conversation.

I feel my eye twitch, "Magic things."

"What kind of magic then?" A British voice butts in.

"Dark magic, now can you just let me finish talking?" I shoot the others a glare, making sure to meet each of their eyes, moss, zircon, amber, hazel, and basil. "Now, continuing on, dark magic-related things have been happening in Great Britain lately. Some of the communities in the region have taken note of this and I was sent to figure out what was going on.

"I traveled northward as I was told, and found exactly what I was looking for. Trails of shadow magic were all over the place. Feliciano, do you remember the shadow wolf that attacked you? I followed a trail and discovered an entire  _ hoard _ of them. There's definitely something sinister happening in the British Isles, and I was heading back to inform my community of this when I got side-tracked."

"How do you get side-tracked all the way to another country?!" Lovino comments.

I send him a hard look, "As I said, I got side-tracked. If you will allow me to explain what happened."

He rolls his eyes with a sneer.

"Anyways, I got side-tracked. I was just across the English Channel, when I stumbled upon a pack of murderous shadow wolves. Of course, I tried to get rid of them. As I've come to realize, these things aren't sentient creatures like normal spirit animals. They're wild, deranged beings with no real sense of free will. Not only are they clearly artificial but as soon as I knock one out, they've been hexed to self-destruct. Letting them roam wherever they wished would only end in humans and other spirits getting hurt.

"Somehow, although I'm not entirely sure, I managed to destroy all of them, or at least, all but one. Not wanting it to just run amuck in society, I chased after it. I honestly had no idea I'd gone all the way to France until recently, and by then it was too far into the hunt for me to simply drop it and go home. I wanted to finish this. And, judging by how I supposedly 'saved Feliciano's life,' I guess it was good that I showed up when I did. If I'd just given up, who knows what that thing would've done. I'm glad to have helped decrease the risk of shadow wolf attacks."

Lovino places a hand on his chin, seemingly pondering something or other, "So… you need to get back to your community, si?"

"Well, ja, I need to go back eventually to tell them I'm alive."

"Great! It's been a pleasure to meet you and all, but you know what you just said; time to get a move on!" He grins and stands, dragging me out of the room and into the hallway.

"What- Fratello!" Feliciano runs after us, "Fratello, no! He can't go yet! Luddy still needs to recover from his injuries!"

"Wait, 'Luddy?!' Okay, no, you're out of here, wurst-boy!"

"Frateeeeeeeellllooooooooooooo-" The other Italian begins whining loudly, extending the 'o' to the extent that it's a miracle he has that much lung capacity.

Just before the front doors, Lovino stops, stomps his foot, puts his hands to his ears, and says, "Gah! Alright, fine! Just stop your obnoxious complaining! I don't have the patience for this shit!"

"Wait, so does this mean I'm staying?"

"Yay! Luddy's staying!" Feliciano cheers, dragging me upstairs. He then begins to blather on, and on, and on about all the fun things we'll do.

As we pass through, I take the time to take note my surroundings. The walls of the hallway are all a nice, purple wallpaper with the intricate details of roses etched into the covering. The floors are beautifully polished, marble tiles with delicate swirls of light gray, and the space in-between each door is filled with potted plants from far-away, tropical countries. Finally, we arrive at one of many cream-colored doors.

"Luddy, this is going to be your room while you're here!" The other grins, exposing flawless pearly-whites.

"Uh… thank you, I guess." I respond lamely.

He tilts his head at me, "Huh, you know, now that I think about it, I never did formally introduce myself to you, did I? You probably just heard someone say my name and remembered it."

I skim through my memories of the previous conversations, read: arguments, to find that he's correct. "Hm, I suppose so."

"Well, then, allow me to introduce myself!" He grabs my hand, shaking it enthusiastically, "Ciao, Ludwig! My name is Feliciano Vargas and I sincerely hope you enjoy your stay here!"

"What- wait, did you just say-?!"

"Well, I'm pretty sure fratello will get angry if I'm alone with you for too long, so I'm going to go now! Arrivederci, Luddy!" He giggles and scampers off, leaving me shell-shocked with the revelation of his last name.

_ Mein Gott, what have I gotten myself into? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Francis trashed the house with rose petals that appeared out of seemingly nowhere, then promptly got a black eye for his crazy romance speech. Shortly afterwards, things turned more serious as Ludwig gave away the story of why the actual fuck he was in France when he had no apparent reason to be; this part of the chapter also brought up little bits and pieces of the main plot, of which will become much, much more important in part 3.  
> Also, just a heads up, the last chapter of part 2 is 2.4, and each chapter in parts 2 and 3 are organized by two's, meaning it goes 2.1, 2.12, 2.14, and so on.  
> So yeah, next chapter will have the introduction of two new characters, one of them awesome and the other not. Stay tuned!


	9. 2.16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, blink-and-you'll-miss-it Spamano  
> Warnings: None

-2.16-

The next morning, after a rather 'eventful' dinner and a good night's sleep, I sit at the gorgeously polished table of the villa's formal dining room. As I happily chow down on my omelet, Arthur goes over the day's schedule.

"Today's actually quite tame for the most part. The majority of it is open, so I suppose you all can just find something  _ non-destructive _ to entertain yourselves with," The rabbit spirit flips through clean, white papers attached to his clip board, "Well, that is until around three this afternoon. Mr. Edelstein called late last night-"

"Uncle Roddy!" I cheer as another person enters the room, "Ve~ Ciao, Luddy!"

He sits himself down next to cousin Francis, glancing around warily in response to fratello's nasty glare, "Uh, guten morgen."

Arthur scowls, "You're late to breakfast."

"Ja, well, it's not like I knew when this was… or  _ where _ for that matter. Why is your house so big?"

The coniglio sighs, "Very well. As I was saying, Mr. Edelstein called last night, and apparently Ms. Héderváry wants him to check in on the twins. He and Gilbert will be here at some point this afternoon."

"Oh great, now I'll have to deal with  _ two _ potato bastards!" Lovino exclaims in outrage, "It's bad enough I have to deal with one, but two?! That's way too many!"

Ludwig causally eats his eggs.

"Aw, but Lovi, Gil's a riot!" Toni grins.

"Oui, I have to agree that Gilbert is a great friend," Francis chuckles, "Although, I am slightly biased since he's the last of our  _ Bad Touch Trio _ ."

Fratello sputters in frustration, "Yeah, but he's still a dick! And a pervert, too!"

" _ Regardless _ of whether or not he's welcome," Arthur interrupts, "Gilbert will be accompanying Mr. Edelstein, just as any other spirit animal would in his position."

I tilt my head, noticing the rather intense expression on Ludwig's face as he continues to poke at the fluffy breakfast food on his plate.

"Très magnifique!" Francis beams, "In the meantime, would any of you like to join me in the gardens this morning for a relaxing game of chess?"

"I think I'll take you up on that, mi amigo, but then we're going to play battleship!" Toni lazily responds with a mouth full of tomato.

Lovino whacks him upside the head, "You moron! Don't talk with your mouth full!"

"Ow, Lovi~" Toni whines, "Every time you hit me is like a dagger to the heart!"

"Tch, just be glad it isn't a real one!"

"Oi! Play nice for once, will you?!" Arthur snaps.

"Ve~ I think I'm going to go painting again!"

"NO! THE LAST TIME YOU WENT PAINTING, YOU BROUGHT HOME  _ THIS _ BASTARD!"

"But fratello, this time I'm going to paint the vineyards!"

"NO!"

"Lovino, s'il vous plaît, just let the two be!" Cousin Francis sighs, "Honestly, who are you to try and separate  _ l'amour vrai _ ~?"

"TO TRY AND SEPARATE WHAT?!"

"Hey, Toni, why does cousin Francis think Luddy and I are going to fall in love?"

"Eh, hell if I know. I'm more interested in the part of Francis's speech last night when he talked about Lovi and I~"

"ANTONIO, YOU FUCKING PERVERT! STOP TALKING ABOUT ME WHEN I'M SITTING RIGHT HERE!"

Ludwig plants his head in his hand, "Oh mein Gott."

"Luddy!" I exclaim, "Do you want to come with me later when I go paint?"

Fratello turns to me, "WHY THE FUCK WOULD HE NEED TO COME?!"

"Well, he's a big, scary wolf spirit, so I thought that maybe it'd be a good idea!" I smile at Lovino, despite his death-glare, "Like you said, the last time I went out I got attacked by a weird, magical, shadow-thing. And that was just yesterday! Who knows what could happen today?"

He takes a deep breath before snarling out, "And what does that have to do with the potato bastard?!"

"Weeeellll, if Luddy comes with me, then he can make sure I don't die if any more of those shadow monsters show up!"

"I agree with Feli!" Toni chimes in, mouth filled with the red object of his obsession once more.

"Oui, the main protagonist and co-star need more bonding time!"

Arthur sighs, "I don't see any issue with it as long as no one gets hurt."

Fratello makes strangling gestures at the air for a moment, mimicking the act of brutal murder, "WHY IS EVERYONE TURNING AGAINST ME?!"

* * *

 

And that is why, fifteen or so minutes later, I find myself trudging through the neighboring vineyards behind the rather eccentric  _ Vargas _ .

_ Vargas. _

That name- what- just- how is it possible for the descendant of  _ King Romulus _ to be this weak?! In his prime, King Romulus Vargas had been the most powerful man alive. He'd conquered modern-day Italy, Germany, Egypt, Greece,  _ and _ Spain! I mean, sure, since then the Vargas family's lost all their political power, but they still have an infamous name to live up to. Feliciano is  _ nothing _ like what you'd expect from the great-whatever grandson of such an influential ruler. He is ditzy, clueless, forgetful, far too innocent for his own good, and- and just downright  _ pathetic _ . And as for the rest of them, I'm baffled. I've been here for less than a day, and even I can tell this family is stupidly dysfunctional. The only thing they ever do is argue. King Romulus managed to unite nearly all of Europe under one banner, and with the wolf spirit Aldrich by his side he was undefeatable. He was a strong, wise ruler that was absolutely  _ barbaric _ on the battlefield. His subjects adored him, his queen was as intelligent as she was beautiful, their daughter grew up to be one of the greatest rulers of the Vargas dynasty, and he made  _ history _ as the first human to be magically bound to a spirit animal.

How could the current generation of Vargases, descended from by far the most relevant and overall amazing leader of ancient Europe, the very one who won over almost the entire continent with his wit and might,  _ the one who forever changed relations between mortals and spirits _ , be this… weak, moronic, toxic to each other and everyone around them?  _ Annoying _ ? The only one that has even the smallest amount of intelligence and  _ sanity _ is Arthur, and he's not even an actual Vargas.

"Ve~ this looks like a nice spot!" I make a short humming noise, snapping my head up as Feliciano stops in a completely random location. He then flops himself onto the ground, pulling out a large sketchbook and a series of oil paints in all shades and colors from his seemingly bottomless messenger bag.

"And what's so good about here?" I ask, looking around at the wide stretch of nothing but grape vines around us. It's so secluded here… it's actually kind of peaceful, not having to deal with the ridiculous fights always breaking out back at the mansion.

He begins squeezing his paints onto an art pallet, "Well, just look at the grapes!"

I narrow my eyes, "There are grapes all around us. Why not paint those?"

He laughs, a light sound best compared to the soft twinkling chinks of wind chimes, "Silly Luddy, these grapes are different from the others!" He leans closely to the plant; "A lot of grapes become ripe in the summer and fall, so this is normally the best time to paint them before the harvest. Because they're still growing, there's also a lot of variety! Some grapes are purple, some are green, and some have been sitting out in the sun too long and are kind of brown and shriveled up. Some are big and plump, some are tiny, do you see my point? All of the grapes here are different from each other; the reason I chose  _ these _ ones is because I like the mix of pink and purple. They're so pretty!"

I gently sit next to him on the sun-dried earth, "Huh, I guess that makes sense. Or, at least it makes more sense than spontaneously parking yourself in the middle of a vineyard without reason."

Feliciano grins and giggles in a bubbly fashion, before neatly coating a medium-sized paintbrush in violet and bringing it to canvas. As he works on his painting, color gradually fills the blank space with gentle strokes of purples, pinks, and greens.

_ He really is amazing _ , I inwardly comment.

Soon, I find myself subconsciously leaning in to get a better look, my shoulder lightly bumping the Italian's. Neither of us really care, both far too invested in following the brush's airy movements, vibrant, bright green vines trailing down from its tip. Who-knows-how-long later, we still sit here, watching as Feliciano brings the grapes to life. It honestly looks as if I could just reach in and pull one right out of the painting.

I observe the other's face as he works, the look of intense concentration. His amber eyes are almost narrowed to slits, flickering back and forth between the painting and his model. Above, his eyebrows are furrowed, probably without him realizing it. Every once in awhile he stops what he's doing to unsuccessfully brush or blow a lock of stray auburn, of which has been heavily disrupting his focus apparently, out of his face. However, in contrast to his tensed facial features, his hands move elegantly and diligently across the canvas, adding a bit of highlight here, darkening a shade there. For the first time, Feliciano is dead serious about something; even his always-smiling lips are curled into a small pout. And that's when I realize something.

Feliciano's actually kind of cute.

He's practically glowing, fair skin shining in the sun, amber eyes sparkling at the act of artistic creation, soft, caramel-colored hair bouncing playfully before his eyes. His cheeks are slightly puffed up from the amount of thought poured into this and his mouth is puckered innocently. He's adorable. Sheisse. Gottverdammt, what do you do when it suddenly hits you that the ridiculous failure of a human you're stuck with is really, really cute? He's like a  _ puppy _ , with those normally closed doe eyes; a large, human-sized, moronic trickster of a puppy.

_ This is  _ **_stupid_ ** , I think to myself as I quietly move away from him, my face flushing at noticing our close proximity.

"Ve~?" Feliciano lifts his gaze to meet mine curiously, "Why did you go away? I was comfortable."

I freeze,  _ this is going to be a long recovery. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, thank you so much for all of your kind words! I respond to each and every comment, no matter what, so I hope more people comment so I can interact with my readers!  
> So yeah, funny story about this chapter... in the A/N of the previous one, I said two characters were going to be introduced here. As it turns out, I was kind of wrong, because I honestly thought this was the chapter in which Austria and Prussia in this AU showed up. Obviously, this was just the chapter in which Austria and Prussia in this AU were mentioned.  
> So yeah... that'll be next chapter! Oh, and guess who gets punched in the face either next chapter or the one after?


	10. 2.18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Minor Gerita  
> Warnings: Gilbert literally gets punched in the face.

-2.18-

"So, who is this 'Mr. Edelstein,' anyways?" Ludwig asks.

I carefully lay my finished canvas down next to me before flashing him a grin, "He's my uncle Roddy!"

At the confused tilt of a blond eyebrow, I continue, "Roderich Edelstein is the fratello of fratello and I's mamma. He can be kind of an asshole sometimes, but I know he means well. Uncle Roddy's just strict because he cares!" I smile, "When we were little, fratello and I would visit uncle Roddy a lot with mamma. We never really had one, so he was like our substitute papa!" I giggle, "He and mamma sure act like it! They argue like an old married couple."

"You… don't have a Vater?"

"Nope! He died when fratello and I weren't even a year old. He'd been horribly sick for a while; they couldn't find a cure on time, so mamma was widowed…" A small, irrepressible frown forms, "Ever since then, she's been trying really hard to make up for that. At the time, mamma and papa weren't married yet, so she kept her maiden name, but mamma made sure that fratello and I would carry on papa's last name and the Vargas legacy. She's always been kind of overprotective; our trips to cousin Francis's house are some of the few times mamma lets us go off on our own. I'm just surprised that when uncle Roddy arrives, she's not coming with him!"

I look at Ludwig, "So, Luddy, what's your story?"

He blinks in response, face blank, "My story?"

"Si! I told you mine, so now you have to tell me yours!"

He sighs, "I can assure you it's not nearly as interesting."

I lightly bump into him, "As if, you grew up in the woods! What was it like?"

He makes a low humming noise, "Well, to start, spirit communities aren't even close to being as big as your human towns. At most, a community consists of about ten to fifteen people. And, also unlike humans, spirit animals don't lose track of their heritage. If you're descended from someone important, you're told that as soon as you're old enough to comprehend it. It's not really brought up in polite conversation, because ancestry means a lot to spirits. If you're openly descended from a terrible person, people are going to believe you to be terrible."

My face scrunches up in thought for a moment, "Luddy, are you descended from someone terrible?"

"No," He says flatly, "but I'm not one to scream their ancestor's name from the rooftops, so even if I was, I wouldn't tell you."

"Oh! Then you're descended from someone great!"

"Why are you so persistent on me being related to a well-known figure?"

"Because if you weren't, it wouldn't have affected you enough to bring it up now!" I peer up at him happily, "Am I right?"

Ludwig looks troubled, "Yes, you are."

"Yay! I'm right!" I cheer, "Now, as you were saying?"

"HEY IDIOTAS!"

I look over Ludwig's shoulder, "CIAO, FRATELLO!"

The German visibly tenses. "HEY FELI, POTATO BASTARD, UNCLE RODERICH'S HERE!"

"OKAY!" I excitedly jump to my feet and grab the canvas with one hand, Ludwig's with the other, "Come on!"

With meaningless protests on the other's part, I dash through the neighbor's vineyard, towing the somewhat bulky wolf behind me. Soon, the manor grows closer and closer, various shapes becoming solid in outline. Wrapping around a marble fountain is the cobblestone driveway. Said fountain had caused much debate in the past between Arthur and Francis, seeing as the bunny sculpture, made of white marble, bouncing along while spitting into the pool of the water piece, suspiciously resembles Arthur's rabbit form. Parked in front of the strange fountain, stretched before the front doors to the villa, is a black limousine. Walking out of said extravagant car is a man with straight, brown hair, chocolate-colored eyes, and glasses, his door condescendingly held open by a spirit with a devilish smirk.

"UNCLE RODDY!" I exclaim, pouncing on the brunette figure.

He cries out for a moment, forced to the door via hug, "Oh, hello, Feliciano."

A rambunctious cackle erupts from one of the new arrivals, "Well, looks like you haven't changed much! Guess Elizabeta was right about this after all; if this is the way Feli greets everyone, who knows what creeps he could hug?"

"Gilbert, shut up."

"Ve~ I missed you so much! It feels like forever since I last saw you!"

"It's only been a few weeks."

"Hey, bastard, what do you think you're doing loitering around over there?!"

I release my uncle from the death grip of happiness and look at Ludwig curiously. He's acting strange. His face is hard, hands are clenched into fists, and icy blue eyes are equally as cold as they are intense, staring straight at-

"W-West?!" Gilbert, surprisingly enough, sputters.

Wordlessly, Ludwig approaches the other.

"West, holy shit, it's you! I thought I'd never see you again-" Gilbert doesn't finish his sentence, because, to the collective gasps of the witnesses, Ludwig lifts his clenched fist, pulls it back, and clocks him right in the jaw.

Lovino gives a low whistle, "Damn, maybe I misjudged this guy. Anyone who hates Gilbert's fine by me!"

The gray wolf merely turns on his heel and storms off, slamming the doors to the mansion shut on his way in. For a good while, we stand there, mouths agape, staring silently at the front doors in shock at what just transpired. The atmosphere is heavy and tense, even for someone as clueless as myself.

"Gil, are you okay?!" Toni does us the favor of breaking the mind-numbingly still moment, attaching to the arctic wolf like a leech.

"Luddy!" I yell, running off to go find him. As he had before, I slam the front doors open and closed behind me with a resounding bang.

As I dash upstairs to the second floor, only one thought is on my mind: Ludwig is pissed. And not just the mild irritation I've seen from him thus far; no, he currently harbors the kind of seething, fuming anger I'd previously thought only Lovino could pull off. It's the kind of anger in which your face flushes a bright, hot, tomato red, your entire body blatantly refuses to cooperate, your teeth run the risk of shattering to pieces, and your pure, raw, vengeful wrath seems to possess the rest of you. Gilbert had been the one to cause all of this. As I near the guest room I'd designated to Ludwig's comfort, I hear a harsh string of German. After a loud tantrum, he cuts off in a frustrated shout, the unsettling sound of something breaking echoing throughout the halls with a pop.

"Luddy!" I burst through the door. Ludwig stands next to the wall with a fierce glare, the fist connected to his uninjured shoulder planted into the plaster. To my distress, when he removes his hand, his knuckles are bleeding.

"Oh no, Luddy, are you okay?!" I begin to fuss over him, taking hold of the harmed appendage to peer at the damage, "Come on; sit!"

I insistently drag him over to the very bed where I'd patched him up just yesterday and seat him upon the cushions. Fretting, I dig through the bedside desk drawer, yanking out gauze and bandage wraps. And so, for the second time in the course of two days, I find myself slathering gauze over some part of the German's body, then neatly winding a series of snow-white linens about the wounded area. Ludwig really needs to stop doing stuff to get himself hurt!

Which leads me back to the root of this whole mess: what happened between Ludwig and Gilbert? I mean, obviously, they have to know each other, or the gray wolf wouldn't have reacted so strongly to the other's presence. And, if not going off of the mysterious blond's unusual behavior, even Gilbert, the "awesome one" himself, seemed out of character. Since when does something surprise him? Gilbert's always been a very boisterous, go-with-the-flow type of person. When life gives him lemons, he squirts them in mamma and uncle Roddy's faces. Even if he does get caught off-guard by something, he's always quick to recover. I really don't think he recovered so easily from being punched in the face this time…

"You need to stop getting injured; it's making me worried!" I scold Ludwig to the best of my ability.

"Hm," He grunts in response, flexing his now-bandaged fist. His eyes are still aflame at whatever managed to anger him so.

I sigh, "Do you think you're ready to go downstairs again? I don't know what's up with you and Gilbert, but you can't just hide up here forever, you know."

He takes a deep breath and stands, "Ja, I'm fine. I still have to yell at the arschloch anyways."

"What- Hey!" I rush to catch up as Ludwig begins a brisk pace out the room and towards the stairs, "You're not going to deck Gilbert again, are you?!"

The German continues to pay no mind to my concerns as he takes the steps two at a time, landing heavily at the bottom and following the voices fluttering in from elsewhere. As the sounds of conversation grow louder, we near the formal lounge, a garnet and golden room set aside for more extravagant company. Figures uncle Roddy would insist upon using this one, as opposed to the casual lounge. Ludwig nearly pulls the door off its hinges, causing everyone in the room to cease their idle chatter and turn towards him.

Besides the color pallet, this room is quite similar to its cool companion, furnished with two couches and armchairs of velveteen red with sunny embroidery, a cherry-wood coffee table placed in the center. On the armchair facing the door sits Gilbert, an uncooked steak pressed to his, probably swollen, black eye. Next to him on a couch is Toni, fawning over his friend with a worried expression, fratello seated beside him with a nasty roll of the eyes. Opposite to Toni is uncle Roddy, cousin Francis decidedly taking up the second space on the couch, Arthur standing moodily behind him.

"Aha, W-West!" Gilbert's fiery eyes widen at Ludwig's entrance, his ever-present grin faltering, "Long time, no see…?" His voice meekly trails off as the other approaches, stopping behind the unoccupied armchair.

"Four centuries," He states, face contorted into a nasty scowl, "It's been four centuries since I last saw you, bruder. Four centuries."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second, these assholes are brothers?!" Fratello exclaims, only to be promptly silenced by Toni, a tanned hand forced upon his mouth.

"Four centuries, no word of what happened to you, leading me to think you were dead," The newly-placed bandages on his knuckles strain under his vice-like grip, "And all this time," He chuckles humorlessly, "All this time, you were fucking around, playing hero."

"West- !"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD," Ludwig shouts over the other, "I thought you were dead, when you could have stopped by anytime! You could have just visited once in awhile, just to let me know you were still breathing, but nein. Nein, you were too busy tangling yourself in human affairs to even spare a thought for your kleiner bruder, who so patiently bought his time and waited for you to come back," If I didn't know better, I'd say he's on the brink of tears, "Well, you know what? Fuck you. Fuck you, and fuck your entire existence to hell!"

"Bruder- !"

Ludwig turns and storms off before Gilbert can finish, "FUCK YOU."

Without a second thought, the devilish wolf stands and runs after him, completely forgetting about the steak he was tenderly pressing to his eye earlier.

"BRUDER, WAIT!"

The awkward silence that follows lasts only for a moment before fratello manages to wrangle out of Toni's ridiculous method of shutting him up, "Cazzo, the one remotely cool potato-eater I meet, and he's related to that walking disaster-zone!"

And of course, Francis decides to respond with, "Ah, mais mon cousin, by 'walking disaster-zone,' are you referring to Gilbert or Ludwig?"

"OH, FUCK YOU!"

I attempt to chase after them once again, but something pulls me back.

"Feli," I turn around to see Roderich, "No. They need to sort this out on their own."

And so, a pout on my lips, I watch and listen as the wolves run amuck in the mansion. I'm pretty sure Francis begins to cry when the audible crash of yet another vase sounds from somewhere in the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Sorry this may be posted a little late, but today was the first day back from Spring Break, so I haven't had much time to work on this.  
> Anyways, today we finally had the long-awaited introduction of Austria and Prussia in this AU, only for Gilber to get socked in the face by his little brother. But don't worry, they'll make up... eventually. Actually, I think that's in the next chapter.  
> So yeah, see you tomorrow!


	11. 2.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Implied Gerita, Spamano, Fruk, and Pruaus  
> Warnings: Gilbert gets punched again and Francis is being Francis

-2.2-

That night, dinner is tense.  _ Very _ tense. Francis sits at the head of the table, glancing nervously between the others. Arthur shovels French food into his mouth. Uncle Roddy calmly drinks his coffee. Fratello eats a tomato. Gilbert breaks out in a cold sweat. Toni, still concerned about Gilbert's black eye, lightly taps his shoulder every once in awhile, getting only a shaky smile in response. Ludwig stabs at his plate.

"Ve~?" I look from Gilbert to Ludwig and back. No matter what's going on in the background, they continue to clash gazes, frantic red on furious blue.

Francis clears his throat, "So, um, I believe someone has to make up for that vase in the hallway, and-" His mouth firmly snaps shut at the blond German's glare.

"Never mind that," Arthur huffs, "This is getting ridiculous! What is wrong with you two?"

"This is none of your-"

"Like hell it isn't!" Ludwig frowns at the interruption as the rabbit continues, "This is  _ my _ household, and  _ you _ are guests. Thus, you will remain  _ civil _ , stop with the  _ arguments _ , and  _ just drink some bloody tea _ ."

"What- the awesome Gilbert never drinks  _ tea _ ! Tea is for grouchy brits with big, bushy brows!" The arctic wolf snickers, back to his old self once more.

"Gil, mon ami, I don't think it's best to defy Arthur right now." Francis sighs.

"Nein! I don't take orders from some  _ kleiner Kaninchen _ !"

"Who are you calling  _ bunny _ , you overgrown  _ dog _ ?!"

"Gilbert, knock it off," Roderich comments off-handedly.

"Nein! You shut up!"

"Gil, por favor!"

"See? What did I tell you about potato-sucking bastards?"

"Ve~?"

"WILL EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP?!" A stark hush falls over the seven of us, Ludwig standing, face hardened, "There is absolutely no point in all of this nonsensical fighting! You're a  _ family _ , so why don't you shut up and act like it?! I swear, it's like all you ever do is  _ argue _ ! What kind of a family is that?! Alright, sure, I'll admit the tensions between Gilbert and I have definitely fueled some of the flames, but believe me, there's no way you can just automatically be this  _ toxic _ to each other! So shut up and stop it!"

The rest of dinner is spent in silence.

* * *

I lay in my new bed, thinking.

_ A lot happened today… _

I sigh. This is exhausting. First of all, complete and utter morons surround me. This I found out fairly quickly, and by 'fairly quickly,' I mean this morning. These people are so flat-out  _ stupid _ that they honestly argued about their uncle and his spirit coming to visit. There are so many things wrong with that, that I can't even begin to cover it all.

Plus, the aforementioned spirit bound to their uncle is my  _ arschloch of a bruder _ . Again, so many things wrong with this that it's hard to handle. This terrible excuse for a person left the community in the middle of the night with no explanation, and never came back. This happened  _ four centuries ago _ . By now, I was convinced he was  _ dead _ . And yet, he's not. He's not dead at all, but instead magically bound to a snobby Austrian. However, 'uncle Roddy' is not enough of an excuse to explain  _ four centuries _ of no contact. There's no way in hell Roderich has been alive since the sixteen hundreds, end of discussion. Therefore, Gilbert has no good reason as to why he disappeared to who-knows-where with who-knows-who for who-knows-how-long.

_ Note to self: punch him in the face again for good measure. _

And then there's the fact that I'm literally  _ stuck  _ here. I'm wounded, and in such a state, it's simply not possible for me to get away from this mad house. Even if I want to leave, I can't, because, let's face it, Feliciano would rather go without  _ painting _ then let me go home at this point. Although, the truth of the matter is… I'm not sure I  _ do _ want to leave.

On one hand, Feliciano's actually really endearing, and while I find him over-dramatic and annoying on many levels, I do sort of enjoy his company. He's loud, zany, persistent, and absolutely hell-bent on befriending me, but, to summarize him in a word,  _ adorable _ . If I just left, would he cry? Gott, I hope not. If something I did caused him, the cheeriest, most bubbly and happy-go-lucky one of this ragtag group of aristocrats to cry, I'd feel really guilty. However, then there are the interactions between these  _ psychopaths _ . Honestly, how can one group of people,  _ relatives _ no less, get along so horribly? Is this all they ever do together, yell at each other? I don't know if I can stand this much longer.

My feelings are kind of a jumbled mess right now.

I sigh heavily. The door to my room opens.

I sit up from my sprawling position on the plush mattress, cold eyes narrowing at the unexpected visitor. "Gilbert, what are you doing here?" I growl.

"Ahah, hey West!" The Prussian grins, "The awesome me felt things were a little tense between us, so I've decided to take it easy on you and let you apologize!"

My eye twitches, "What?"

"Well, ja!" He continues on, "After all, it  _ has _ been a long time, so I'm sure you have a lot of unresolved anger on you. You should be thankful your big bruder is so kind and considerate!"

_ Well, looks like it's time to act upon that note to self from earlier. _

* * *

"Ve~" I chant in-between bites of delicious pasta. Mm, I love pasta so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so-

"But West!" My train of thought is abruptly cut off as none other than the wolf brothers enter the dining room.

"For the last time, leave me alone!"

"Ve~?"

Something is off here. Oh, I know! Gilbert seems way less narcissistic than usual! Yay! I got it right, but why? It definitely has to do with Ludwig, what with Gilbert following him like a lost puppy, but what happened? Did Luddy do something mean again? I bet Luddy did something mean again. Ludwig's been really cold ever since Gilbert showed up, probably having to do with that big speech he gave about ' _ four centuries _ ' and stuff. He even punched Gilbert in the face!

Hey, wait a minute! Didn't Gilbert only have  _ one _ black eye?!

"About time you two showed up for breakfast- wait, what happened to Gilbert's other eye?!" Arthur scolds before freaking out.

"He's been bothering me since about one in the morning," Ludwig glares at his fratello.

"What- one in the morning?! How can anyone get enough beauty sleep to look and act gorgeous in  _ that  _ amount time?!" Cousin Francis exclaims, "Roderich! Do something; this is getting out of hand!""

Uncle Roddy looks up from scowling at his coffee, "Gilbert, go make me some tea. This coffee has too much cream in it."

"What- you can go make your  _ own _ damn tea!"

"Gilbert," His iris-colored eyes narrow behind wiry frames, "I will not hesitate to call Elizabeta."

The arctic wolf's face pales, "Right on it!"

"Make me some pastries too while you're at it!"

"Wait, what's so terrifying about this 'Elizabeta'?" Ludwig looks between my uncle and the place Gilbert once stood.

"Elizabeta Héderváry is our madre," Fratello answers docilely, "And also the sorella of Roderich."

"Your mother is scary?"

"Si!" Toni interjects, "She carries a skillet and swings it around like nobody's business!"

Roderich sighs, "Ja, the last time I got on Elizabeta's nerves, she smacked me upside the head. I had a ginormous bump on my skull for a full week. She really knows what she's doing when it comes to deadly cooking utensils."

"Yes, Ms. Héderváry is quite the woman, isn't she?"

"Oui, I couldn't agree more!" Francis contributes, "I mean, have you seen her breasts? Such perfectly shaped sacks of beauty!  _ C'est très magnifique _ !"

"YOU BLOODY PERVERT!" Arthur grabs Francis's ear and pulls, nearly dragging him right out of his chair, "AND RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER CHILDREN, TOO!"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Mon lapin, that hurts!"

"Eh, you had it coming," Roderich comments, going back to his breakfast.

"THE AWESOME ME HAS RETURNED WITH PRISSY TEA AND SNACKS!"

* * *

After that, we all settle into a relatively normal routine… or, as normal as these people can get. Every morning, our six-person group sits down to a family breakfast. More often than not, Feliciano finds some way to sneak  _ pasta _ into his bowl for  _ breakfast _ . Of course, this leads to Lovino, Arthur, and Roderich criticizing his choice of meal and the peppy Italian brushing them off with some embarrassing comment about the rabbit spirit's cooking, his uncle's laziness, and or his brother's strange obsession with tomatoes.

The first meal of the day finished, we all tend to go off and do our own things. Roderich, I find, plays the piano, and quite expertly at that. Every day after breakfast, he promptly sits himself down in the manor's music room, causing the most fantastic melodies to flit out the door of the cream-painted room and all throughout the rest of the villa. This is a certainty. Another is Gilbert's obvious fondness towards the twins' uncle. Whenever Roderich plays the piano, the wolf can be found nearby, whether he's standing in a dark corner of the room or sitting right next to the other on the piano bench. Regardless of his position or placement, a small smile always graces his pale lips.

As for Antonio and Lovino, they can normally be spotted lounging around somewhere; these two are fairly laid-back. Sometimes they wander about the nearby vineyards, but sometimes they're consuming the tomatoes in Francis's kitchen,  _ and _ storage room,  _ and  _ the fruit bowls littered about,  _ and _ all the hidden slots he had made so they would stop eating all his tomatoes. Hell, there was even that one time Antonio accidentally broke one of the far-too-fragile-for-practical-use sort of vases carelessly left about, only to find yet another hot-spot for unusual tomatoes. They spent the rest of their afternoon, that fateful summer day, smashing every one of those dainty vases to find the rest of the Frenchman's secret tomato stashes, promptly causing Francis to burst into tears at the untimely deaths of his priceless valuables.

Arthur was the one to comfort him, despite their eccentric relationship. Arthur's by far the most mature one of the group. He usually spends his time roaming about the villa, writing things on that wooden clipboard of his, of which seems to be almost glued to his arm. Well, that is until Francis gets bored. The owner of the mansion is exactly the kind of snobby Frenchman to drink and socialize the day away, but, apparently, that somehow gets old. At this point, he tends to stomp around the manor, whining loudly for Arthur's attention. Eventually, the rabbit hears his complaints and approaches the buzzed and unsatisfied human. From then onward, Arthur's afternoon is wasted entertaining a wealthy, perverted romantic. He doesn't appear to be very fond of this daily occurrence.

And that leaves Feliciano, who, after breakfast, makes it his goal to drag me out painting with him. So far, in less than a week, he's taken me to the sunroom, the neighboring vineyards again, the villa's garden, of which is filled to the brim with flawless roses, and the casual lounge when he wanted to paint his brother and the fox spirit sitting around, eating tomatoes. Lovino was rather flustered at the prospect of being a live model, while Antonio mainly just grinned and carried on with the conversation they began to hold beforehand.

I've taken note that each of the others tend to have a set personality that they normally fall back on. Lovino's the vulgar one, Francis's the romantic, Antonio's the 'boy next door,' Roderich's the resident freeloader, Arthur's the gentlemanly one, Gilbert's the trouble-maker, and Feliciano's the childish one.

Approximately four days after Gilbert and Roderich's initial arrival, I finally decide to give in and call a truce with my bruder.

I sigh, "Alright, fine. I give."

The Prussian looks at me in confusion, "What- what?"

"I said 'I give,'" I shove an outstretched hand in his face, "Peace?"

Gilbert's blood-colored eyes widen as he roughly grabs ahold of the appendage, "I'll make it up to you! I swear, you won't regret this, West! I'll be the most awesome gross bruder ever! Just you wait and see; after all, I  _ am _ the awesomest wolf ever already!"

_ I regret this _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shocking revelations of the chapter: 1) The Italy brothers' mom in this AU is Hungary, 2) Roderich plays THE PIANO, 3) Gilbert can really be a narcissistic douche sometimes, and 4) Francis is a perv. 'Nough said.  
> Aside from that, just a reminder, the last chapter of part 2 is 2.4, so we're roughly halfway done with part 2. Isn't that just great? After part 2 will be posted an intermission focusing on the ancients hanging out in the afterlife, then proceeding that will be what I've posted of part 3 on fanfiction.net. As I've said before, this is a cross-post between the two sites, meaning that I'm not going to be posting any of the chapters I've typed up but not alreadly put on the internet.  
> So, yeah.  
> See you tomorrow!


	12. 2.22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, Fruk, and implied Spamano  
> Warnings: None, aside from the smashing of Francis's priceless vases

-2.22-

"Alright, so today my new delivery of  _ très _ beau vases will come in, and none of you are going to smash them!" Cousin Francis points to Toni and fratello, " _ Especially _ after that tomato fiasco! These are gorgeous, priceless vases and I will  _ not _ stand for this- this disorderliness!"

"Aw, come on Francis!" Toni groans.

Lovino huffs, "Well, maybe you shouldn't have hid tomatoes in them, bastard."

"And maybe  _ you _ shouldn't have eaten so many of our tomatoes, so that we needed to hide them in the first place!" Arthur glares.

"I think Francy-Pants just needs to stop buying such fragile vases!" Gilbert guffaws.

"I think  _ some _ people need to be more responsible," Uncle Roddy sends the arctic wolf a pointed look.

"What- hey! I didn't break any of them! That was all Toni and Lovino! I'm innocent, I swear-"

"What about the vase in the hall, the one when you first showed up?" Ludwig interrupts.

Gilbert freezes and laughs sheepishly, "Um, ja, that was me."

"You see?" Francis sighs dramatically, "This is why I need to inform you of this! From now on, all vases of mine are off-limits!"

"Fine," Fratello states, "But no more hiding tomatoes in them."

"Deal," The rabbit spirit of the group agrees instantaneously, "You can have all the tomatoes out of the kitchen you want as long as you quit smashing vases. These things are bloody expensive, you know!"

"Well, now that that's sorted out," The Frenchman lifts a glass of local wine, "I'm going back to my  _ trés importante _ business. Call if the delivery truck arrives~!"

Chatting amongst themselves, the others begin to disperse, each leaving with the one they normally hang around. "Ve~ Luddy!" I instantly latch onto the younger of the two wolves, "I want to go paint some roses from cousin Francis's garden." He makes a sort of humming noise and goes along with it, not even trying to remove me from his arm.

_ I like Luddy! _ I think happily to myself, and why wouldn't I? He's big, hunky, he helps me tie my shoelaces, and he spends time with me! It gets awfully lonely sometimes, being the only one in my family who doesn't have a spirit animal, or at least a close friend. But then Ludwig came along, and I finally have someone to hang out with! I excitedly drag him through the manor, into the sunroom, and then burst out from inside, chatting animatedly about this and that. "-And later today, I want to make some pasta. Then tomorrow, I'm going to paint you-"

"Wait, why do you want to paint a picture of me?"

_ Because you're handsome. _ "Because you're my friend!"  _ And handsome. Seriously, he's one attractive- _

"... 'Friend?'"

It feel like my heart's jumped to my throat, "Well, si! Aren't we friends, Luddy?"

He blinks, "I guess."

Despite the bottomless pit in my stomach, I quickly bounce back, plastering a slightly strained grin onto my face, "Ve~ Anyways, back to those roses!"

I set up my paints and canvas in front of a lovely, cerise pink bushel of flowers, then begin to paint. Today's not my best day. The strokes are splotchy, the colors just a little bit less accurate than usual, and I really don't know where I'm going with this. I scrunch my eyebrows in frustration. As I near the point of tearing my hair out at the ridiculousness of the situation, apparently me being lost is noticeable, for the other decides to comment on it.

"Is this because of the friend conversation earlier?"

I freeze, "No."

"You answered that much faster than you normally do."

I wilt, "I just- I don't know. Today's not really a good day for painting I guess."

_ Now that I think about it, there's not very much to like about me. _

I feel tears prick at my eyes. Of course he doesn't see us as friends. Why would he? I may  _ annoy _ him of my own accord, but Ludwig's only here because he's still recovering… Well, that and because his brother's here. He's been here a full week by now; it's really not going to take much longer for his shoulder to heal. His knuckles are already good as new from when he punched a hole in the wall! Soon, he won't need to stick around anymore, and I'll be all by my lonesome again. What will I do when Ludwig's gone? I won't have anyone to hang out with! I mean, sure I could bother Toni and fratello, but they always get distracted with each other and forget I'm here! Uncle Roddy and Gilbert are also a big no-no too, because all they ever do is play piano, drink coffee, snack on frilly finger food, and other boring things like that! And as for cousin Francis and Arthur-

"Feli, stop." I look up to see Ludwig staring at me intently, his rough hand hesitantly placed on my shoulder. Then I notice the faint blush on his cheeks.

Oh.  _ Oh. _

A broad beam slowly stretches itself across my lips, before I nearly force the wolf to the ground in a hug.

"YOU CARE ABOUT ME!"

"What- Of course I do!" He shouts indignantly, "I mean, didn't we just agree we were friends?"

At the expression on Ludwig's face, usually hard features ruffled and loosened with surprise, I simply can't restrain a jovial laugh, the sound bubbling out of my mouth and spilling throughout the air. After that, I don't have any problems finishing my painting.

* * *

"Can you move over a little bit?"

I patiently do as I'm told, slightly unnerved by the short Italian's unwavering gaze. "Like this?"

"Si! That's exactly what I want!" He cheers blithely, "This is going to be such a great painting. I can see it in my head already."

I shuffle in place, seated up a red, velvet armchair in the formal lounge. He only pauses in his gander to blink and glance at the canvas before him. "So, what do I even do?"

"Not much, you just sort of sit there and look handsome while I do my thing."

My jaw drops, "Did you just say 'handsome?!'"

"Oh, did I? Whoops, it must have slipped out I guess!" He giggles innocently. "But, it's not like I'm lying or anything; have I ever told you you're really handsome?"

I don't know how to respond to that, so I look away, face gradually warming.

The human gasps, "That's perfect! Yes, just like that!" The exclamation is followed by the sound of furious, passionate painting, his brush making energetic movements across the blank linen.

"Wait, what?"  _ Oh mein Gott, if he paints me blushing- _

He squeals, "Luddy's so cute when he's flustered!"

"I can't believe I'm letting you do this."

"But Luddy, we're friends, remember?" Feliciano smiles, "So you  _ have _ to let me use you as a model!" He turns back to his paints, "Besides, you're different from other people I've painted. You're more…" He frowns, looking at the ceiling in thought. "You're more… oh, what's the word I'm looking for?" A few short moments later, the redhead perks up, "Oh, that's right! You're more  _ sturdy _ ."

"'Sturdy…?'" I echo.

"Si! Francis, Arthur, Toni, Gilbert, and uncle Roddy are all much looser than you, and fratello's just plain grumpy." He continues happily, "Everyone tends to have a different demeanor to their character, and you're just more  _ sturdy _ than the others."

"Huh, I suppose I never thought about that before."

What's this swelling in my chest? That's probably not normal. I should see a doctor or something, especially seeing as this has been happening surprisingly often. I'll just be spending time with Feliciano, as per the routine I've figured for myself, when my body will start acting weirdly for no apparent reason. My brain becomes fuzzy, my face feels warm, my heart speeds up, my stomach doesn't feel too good, and or my muscles become much more tense than normal. I'm fairly certain I'm coming down with a fever of some sort, or perhaps an infection? After all, it's not like I received professional treatment for my shoulder and hand. It's not impossible for me to have gotten infected at some point. I'm sure that bacteria and viruses would just  _ love _ to be a massive nuisance, right when my shoulder's in the process of healing and my knuckles are perfectly fine. That's just my luck.

Maybe Gilbert will know what's going on with me?

"Ve~ I guess I just pay more attention to body language than most people!"

"Hm."

"HEY IDIOTA," I cringe at the sound of Feliciano's twin.

Right as I do, the door to the room slams open to reveal the fuming Vargas, Antonio peeking his head in from behind the other. "WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU PAINTING A PICTURE OF THIS ASSHOLE?!"

"Ve~ Fratello! I like to paint my friends, and Luddy's my friend, so-"

"Oh, you have  _ got _ to be kidding me," He growls. "You know I hate this guy's guts, so why are you still pursuing this?!"

"But fratello-"

" _ No. _ He's going to leave as soon as his shoulder's done anyways! I mean, that shit can heal in a couple of weeks for spirits, right?"

"Actually, I'd say it takes a little less time," The Spaniard of the family chimes in unhelpfully. Do they really need to bring this up?

"Why can't we just worry about that when it happens?" I frown slightly.

"Shut up, you," Lovino points at me angrily before facing his brother once more, "And as for you, you do realize he probably doesn't even  _ want _ to be here, right?!"

"Wait a minute, don't just-"

" _ I said shut up _ . I didn't ask you, potato bastard! Hell, no one asked you!" He throws his hands into the air in exasperation, "As I was saying, he really doesn't need to stay once he's better! Even if the testa di cazzo somehow  _ does _ like being here for whatever _ stupid _ reason, no way in  _ fuck _ am I letting him live with us!  _ I will drag him out the door by the tail if I have to _ ."

Feliciano whimpers softly, his eyes brimming with salty water. "Fratello, that's mean! Why do we have to talk about it now?"

"Because I don't want some stupid bastard taking advantage of you!"

"Alright, Lovi, time to go." Antonio puts a hand on his shoulder.

"FUCK NO! I'M NOT DONE YET, YOU FUCKING- HEY! PUT ME DOWN!"

Before anyone can really stop it, the fox lifts Lovino into the air and slings him over one of his shoulders once more, a clueless yet tired smile on his face, "Well, see you guys later! I promise mi tomate will be much calmer by then!"

"ANTONIO, YOU FUCKING TOMATO BASTARD! YOU'RE WORSE THAN BOTH FILTHY GERMANS  _ COMBINED _ ! YOU PUT ME DOWN RIGHT THIS INSTANT, OR I SWEAR-"

He simply laughs merrily and continues down the hallway, "Okay, Lovi~"

"Your family is so weird." I watch their retreating forms, until Antonio turns into a pathway leading towards the kitchen. They're most likely going for the tomatoes again.

When Feliciano doesn't respond, I face him once more, only to find he's crying. "Oh-  _ sheisse _ \- are you alright?" I rush to his side.

"It's just- and fratello-" He cuts himself off, then wails, "I don't want you to leave!"

I awkwardly place a hand on his back and pat it a couple times, "Um… there, there?" I grunt as he latches his arms around my waist, still bawling his eyes out.

"Waaaahhhh and- and I just don't want you to leave and- once you do, I'll be all lonely again be- because everyone else has someone to hang out with but meeeeee-"

_ Oh sheisse, what am I supposed to do in this sort of situation?! _

Maybe we can get pasta to cheer him up? Feliciano really loves pasta, so- wait, no, that's a terrible idea. Antonio dragged Lovino off in the direction of the kitchen. If we go there to get some cheer-up pasta, we'll surely run into them again. For the sake of his emotional stability, it's probably best to not interact with the tomato raiders for a while.

_ Oh Gott, how do you cheer up someone who's almost always happy?! _

Okay, okay, let's calm down and think this through. What do I know makes Feliciano happy? Well, he likes food, which is a massive no-go at this point. Alright, what else? Painting? No, he's far too upset for art right now. Oh, I know! Cute things! He's got to like cute things, ja? But how do I get a cute thing to make him feel better when he's hanging all over me?

_ Sheisse. This is not going to end well. _

There are only two ways this can go as far as I can see. Either I let him cry his heart out and be miserable, or I suck it up and make this crucial sacrifice. But is this really worth it? What am I thinking; of course it is.

_ And even if it isn't I'm still going to do it anyways, _ My mind tacks on cynically. I mentally sigh,  _ what have I become? _

I gently remove his arms from their state of winding about me, then take a deep breath and stand back.

_ I can't believe I'm seriously doing this. _

As the human begins to freak out at the loss of contact, going into some ramble about the deeper meaning behind me pushing him away for a mere moment, I begin to reluctantly transform. After an aggravating moment of having my entire biology changed, I sit on the floor obediently, blinking up at the now taller other. He tilts his head in confusion, having stopped his aimless blabbering.

"AW, YOU'RE SO CUTE!" I'm swept up into his arms, nearly suffocating at the force of the Italian's hold.

_ The things I do for this kid. _

* * *

"Hm? Is something wrong? I heard crying and- wait, what's going on here?!"

"Ve~ Arthur, look; isn't Luddy cute?!" I grin at the rabbit spirit.

"Ohonhonhon, looks like someone's been busy," Cousin Francis flows into the room, "You spirits are so lucky. I bet you get all les belles personnes with the cuteness and cunning of your animal forms."

"Oh shut up, you frog!" Arthur gets that funny look on his face again, that one emotionally confused expression that somehow crosses exasperation, horror, and a strange feeling of attraction.

"Ve~ so cute~ Ve~"

Francis sighs, "So lucky…" Then, he lights up once more as he pulls Arthur into his arms, "Ah, mais mon cher! You love me, don't you?"

From his shoulders to the tips of his ears, Arthur turns bright red. Francis sleeps on the couch that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heheheheheh... In the scene where Feliciano's painting a picture of Ludwig, there's a sentence Feliciano says that's a reference to part 1. I'm not going to tell you what the sentence is, but the referred to scene from part 1 is the one in which Romulus drunkenly tries to seduce Aldrich. Have fun with that. =3  
> Anyways, a lot of different stuff happened in this chapter! Francis ordered new vases, Feliciano started brooding about how Ludwig's potentially going to leave him, Lovino got really pissy for a moment, Ludwig tried to cheer Feliciano put by letting him gush about his cuteness, then Francis failed spectacularly to woo the bunny.  
> So yeah, I guess that's all I really have to say right now. XP See you tomorrow!


	13. 2.24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, blink-and-you'll-miss-it Spamano  
> Warnings: A certain someone falls off the roof, and a certain someone jumps off after them.

-2.24-

At about three o'clock in the morning, I hear the pitter-pattering of soft feet on marble floors. Still half-asleep and more than half-groggy, I growl lightly, clamping a feathery pillow upon my head like a shield. Unfortunately, the muffled noises don't quiet themselves, but instead crescendo until they're just outside the room. Whoever's on the other side hesitantly creaks open the door before gently closing it once more and tiptoeing inside. My face scrunches and the ridiculously plush mattress bounces up and down temporarily, the mysterious person now in bed with me.

"What are you doing?" I lazily mutter from under the cushion still clenched in my hands.

The other freezes for a moment, probably having forgotten about the better sense of hearing most spirits display. "I had a nightmare," an airy, distinctly Italian voice whispers from my left.

I instantly remove the pillow from it's place obscuring my vision and look at the naturally cheerier of the Vargas twins. He truly does appear to have just gotten out of bed, his hair a mess aside from the inexplicably suspended curl protruding from his rat's nest of auburn locks. His lips, almost always spread like butter in a large beam of sunlight, are now downturned into a childish pout and he's visibly shaking from whatever occurred in his dreams.

"... Why don't you go to Lovino?"

"I already tried that!" Tears begin to gather on his amber eyes, "He kicked me out and said 'It's bad enough I have to deal with this Spanish asshole disturbing my rest; I don't want to put up with your whining ass too!'"

How could anyone honestly say that to Feliciano?

I sigh; "Alright, you can stay here, but no-" He latches onto me, wrapping his arms about my waist, "- Cuddling." My eye twitches, "You know what? Do whatever you want. Just let me get some much needed recuperation, and we'll be fine."

* * *

"LUDDY, LUDDY, WAKE UP!"

"GAH!" I shoot awake, "WHAT, IS THERE A MURDER GOING ON?!"

"Luddy, wake up!" Feliciano continues to jump up and down, causing the entire pointlessly luxurious bed to groan and reluctantly follow his motions. "Luddy, it's breakfast time, so wake up!"

"You're in a good mood today." I comment, my words like a rollercoaster from the movements of the mattress.

"Ve~ I like cuddling when I sleep!"

I carefully get up from the unstable platform, and grab a few clothes Gilbert had lent me in wake of the revelation that I only had the one outfit, "Ja, well, I suppose you should go back to your own room now."

He stops his childish actions, "Why?"

I give him a stern look, "I need to get changed."

"So?" He says with an innocent tilt of the head.

Without a single doubt in myself, I shamelessly kick him out the door, sprawled in the middle of the hallway. As I dress, the little Italian can be heard banging on the now locked door, complaining loudly about exactly how much I can't take a joke, and how I always ruin his fun. Mid-knock, I swing the wooden entrance open, surprising the other enough so for him to almost fall flat on his face. As usual, he automatically crushes me in a hug, begging for my forgiveness.

"I'm not mad you know," I begin walking towards the staircase, "I just don't think it's appropriate for you to be in the room while I'm changing."

His reaction is almost instantaneous, his entire expression lighting up in joy, "Really?! Okay, I can do that!" He grabs my hand and pulls me along behind his nimble form, "Now, let's go eat food; I'm starved!"

And so, only but a few minutes later, we all but crash into the dining room, Feliciano exclaiming loudly, "Ciao, everybody!"

Everyone in the room, most already eating their breakfast food of choice, give a chorus of greetings in response. Well, that is all except for Arthur, who merely glares with gentle reprimand for being fifteen minutes late to the meal.

"Ve~ Sorry, Arthur! I slept with Luddy last night!"

All at once, Roderich spits out the coffee he'd been drinking previously, Arthur nearly faints, Francis applauds loudly, Gilbert falls out of his chair laughing, and Lovino starts shouting nasty-sounding curses in Italian. The only one not to automatically react is Antonio, who appears to, for once, give that statement a good amount of thought, before physically reeling, almost joining the arctic wolf on the floor.

I simply glare at the still obliviously happy one of the group, "If you say it like that, it sounds worse than it actually is."

"Hm?" He observes others in confusion, "But what's so bad about sleeping in the same bed? I do that with fratello all the time."

As before, their retaliation comes within seconds. Roderich gives Feliciano an extremely disturbed look, Arthur pulls himself together, clutching his chest as if experiencing a heart attack, Francis appears to be surprisingly disappointed, Gilbert's boisterous guffaws die down to obnoxious snickers, and Lovino continues to cuss in his native tongue, blatantly ignoring Antonio's brave efforts to pacify him.

"I give up on this discussion," I pointedly decide, plopping myself down in a chair next to my bruder, "You people can sort this out on your own for all I care."

The rest of the meal is held with the laughter of a floor-bound Gilbert and Lovino's wrathful yelling as background noise.

* * *

"Luddy, come on! I want to paint a scene from the roof!"

Once again, I surrender all hope of being by myself for once, a certain easily excitable Italian dragging me to and fro, forcing me to participate in his day-to-day shenanigans. This time, he apparently wants to play on the railing-less, wall-less roof of a two-story building.

Great.

Do note the sarcasm.

And yet, before I have the opportunity to protest, I find myself at the very top of the wealthy manor, the wind blowing like a brisk but loving caress. Always one for adventure, the other carelessly runs amuck in his new surroundings, grinning almost insanely as he finds what he deems to be the best spot and sets up his artistic equipment. I seat myself next to him as per routine and quietly watch as the redhead begins to work. Due to having to run up and down stairs a lot for this, Feliciano didn't bring his easel, and is instead sitting on the cold, pale gray shingles, the canvas waiting patiently in his lap. Seeing the other diligently paint to his heart's content, I feel my lips turn upwards just a tad.

"Ve~ the view is so pretty from up here!" I hum and nod in agreement.

"Ja, the countrysides, although French, are quite beautiful this time of year."

I lean back and breathe in a good amount of fresh air, the light smell of grapes and grass pleasantly assaulting my nose.

This is surprisingly peaceful.

So distracted am I, that I don't even notice when Feliciano leans forward to get a better look at the setting of his painting. So distracted am I, that I don't even notice when he slips on the cool, sloping roof top, until he releases a loud shout of panic.

"WAHH!"

My eyes widen as I immediately lunge forward to grab ahold of the screaming Italian, purposely falling as well. I pull him close to my chest as lukewarm air rushes about us, causing the redhead's hair, even that strange curl of his, to fly upwards. In the terror of the moment, Feliciano lets go of his brush and canvas, the objects just above us, aimed for the ground but at a slower rate due to their lightness compared to two fully-grown bodies. My instincts kick into overdrive. Before I know what's even happening anymore, one of my arms reaches out to the mansion, the other holding the human even tighter, all four of his appendages already clinging to me in an almost suffocating embrace. My fingers manage to clamp down on a stone windowsill, the sudden stop causing me to bite back a grunt of pain at the unsettling pop of my shoulder. I regard his face and the salt water brimming around his eyes. I have to get us out of here. My fingers clench harder onto their hold.

"Wahhh, I don't want to dieee!" The other whimpers softly.

"It's alright, Feli. Just, whatever you do, do not look down." I warn him.

As soon as I say that, he opens his eyes and glances downwards. "Ahh, Luddy I looked down!" He somehow latches onto me in an even more crushing hug, climbing up my torso to have a better squeeze.

Ignoring the shaking Italian, I gaze downwards myself. We're dangling from a windowsill on the second floor. Sheisse.

Okay, maybe there's someone inside?

I can't see what's in the window from this angle. Sheisse.

"Alright, it looks like there's only one way to get someone's attention at this point."

Feliciano looks at me tearfully, "And what's that?"

I take in a deep breath, "GILBERT YOU DUMMKOPF, COME GET ME OFF THIS WINDOW THIS INSTANT!"

"FRATELLO, HELP MEEEEEE!"

After that, a startled cry of "SHEISSE" can be conveniently heard from just inside, along with the sound of another vase shattering upon the ground. Then, the window slams open to show a red-faced Gilbert.

"WEST, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU- Wait, why are you and Feli hanging from the window sill?"

"Feliciano fell off the roof and I jumped after him."

"Please pull us in; I'm scared!" The Italian continues to bawl his eyes out, hiding his face in my chest.

"You did what?! Holy shit, what were you thinking?!" Without needing any further explanation, Gilbert hurriedly grabs the smaller one's arm, yanking him inside none-too-gently before hoisting me up as well.

I wince as I move my hurt arm, attracting the arctic wolf's attention to it. "The hell happened to your arm?!"

I shrug, "I barely managed to grip the windowsill before we crashed to the ground; it's probably just uncomfortable from the sudden stop.

"What- oh hell nein." He rushes to my side, lifting and prodding at the appendage.

I hiss as he pokes my shoulder, "Gilbert-"

"Nein," He gives me a firm look, "What were you trying to do, pull your arm right out of the socket?! It's bad enough you're still healing from whatever the hell gave you that monster of a gash on your other shoulder! Did you really need to fuck up both your arms?"

"Gil, I wasn't trying to do anything," I send him a glare in return, "Feliciano and I were in danger of being a large puddle of flesh on the driveway, so I grabbed the nearest thing I could to prevent our impending dooms."

He huffs, "Impending doom or nada, you can't just go around getting yourself hurt like this! First you get that thing on your shoulder, then you punch a hole in the wall, and now this?! This is getting ridiculous!"

"I'm fine," I attempt to pull my arm away from his hold, only to give a short yelp of pain at the sudden jerk. "Alright, maybe I'm not so fine."

"Damn right you're not!"

And so, a little while later, I find myself sitting on Gilbert's temporary bed as my older bruder frets about. Feliciano had long since run off to get everyone else, so, honestly, I'm not that surprised when all six of them burst open the door, a large mob of yelling and mixed emotions. Arthur, Antonio, Feliciano, and Roderich seem to be worried, each shouting out their own versions of panicked questioning, but Lovino appears to be even more pissed off than usual, accusing me of pushing his brother off the roof. Strangely enough, Francis simply stands there with a completely blank face.

"Alright, alright, everyone shut up so I can talk!" Gilbert raises his voice above the others, causing a soft hush to fall over them. "Long story short, Feli's clumsy arse fell off the roof, so Ludwig, being the idiot he is, jumped after him. Good news: they actually lived. Bad news: West fucked up his shoulder. Even worse news: it was the opposite shoulder to the already fucked up one, meaning he's basically down both arms now. Any suggestions?"

"Actually, my other arm's almost entirely healed by now-"

"Shut up, West; you're injured."

I frown. Feliciano raises his hand and waves it about in the air.

"Yes, Feli? What is your awesome, but not as awesome as me, idea?" The moronic wolf calls on him.

"Shouldn't we take Luddy to see an actual doctor?! This is really starting to freak me out!"

"I agree with Feliciano on this one; what if his arm's broken or something?" Roderich butts in.

"Si! We should really get that checked!"

"Okay, Francy-pants? What say you on this matter of the utmost importance?"

Francis wordlessly steps into the room, head bowed and a hand under his arm. Then, he faces the others and pulls his hand out, rose petals flying everywhere.

_ Mein Gott, not another speech about romance. _

"I think this is perfect!" He blows a kiss at his audience, "I mean, just imagine it! This is all of the things I mentioned previously and more! The plot twist of the century has occurred: the hapless hero of our story has just had a thrilling brush with death, only to be saved by his stunningly hunky love interest! The love interest not only saved the hero's life once, but twice now, literally jumping off the roof of the gorgeous villa for him. How romantic is that?! And, he was even hurt in the event! The angst, the feels! It's even better than the life-long romance blossoming between Antoine and my darling, yet feisty, cousin! IT'S JUST SO ROMANTIC I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO BURST! So yes, I support this! I support this one hundred percent! As far as I'm concerned, the love interest can get himself hurt as much as he pleases, as long as it's all in the name of  _ l'amour vrai _ !"

"YOU MORONIC FROG!" Arthur hits him upside the head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, Francis, you big sap, you... So yeah, Ludwig and Feliciano fell off the roof! Yay! Except not really. XD  
> Oh, oh, oh, oh, by the way, something awesome happened yesterday. Like, PRUSSIA awesome. So, there's this AO3 user, The_OTP_Fangirl, who wrote a really cool fanfiction partially based off of SAS. Her fanfic's called 'Seishin,' and it's really awesome, and I'm beta-ing it, so you should give it a shot! The first chapter's up, and there's a link in the 'works inspired by' or whatever thing at the bottom!  
> Alright, now that that quick PSA has been jotted down, onto talking about the chapter! Just saying, I love how I ended this chapter with Francis giving yet another speech about romance and stuff, then Arthur wacked him upside the head. =3 Also, this chapter is actually the one that gets the ball rolling for Ludwig and Feliciano to eventually get bound together, because, let's face it, this was going to happen from the beginning when Ludwig saved Feliciano from a shadow wolf. The event of those two falling off the roof basically starts a chain reaction of emotional confusion, terrible advice from Gilbert, and even more shenanigans.  
> Stay tuned!


	14. 2.26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, blink & you'll miss it Spamano & Pruaus  
> Warnings: None

-2.26-

As soon as the doctor enters the room, white coat buttoned professionally, stethoscope wrapped about his neck, I leap up from my seat, barraging him with an angry horde of questions.

"How's Ludwig? Is he going to be okay? Oh Madonna, his arm's broken, isn't it?! Noooo, his arm can't be broken! If his arm's broken, how am I supposed to drag him through the manor so he can watch me paint?! Wahh, Signore Doctor-man, please tell me there's no permanent damage; I don't know what I'd do if he-"

"Feli, shut up!" Fratello pushes me aside, "Allow me to apologize for my  _ idiota _ of a fratello. I don't know why, but for some stupid reason he's concerned about the German bastard. Any news on that?"

The doctor straightens himself up a bit before speaking, "Oui, he should recover. His arm was almost pulled out of the socket, but we must remember that spirits heal faster than humans do. It will take a few days or so for the muscles to be good-as-new, but he should be perfectly fine."

I visibly brighten, and then shove past both of them, sprinting towards the patient's rooms, completely tuning out Lovino's shouts of protest. I dash down the hallway opening each door I pass and slamming it shut when the gray wolf's not in there with a whine. At the twenty-first door, I yank on the handle, nearly pushing it closed once more, before exclaiming "LUDDY!"

He grunts under my weight as I tackle him on the hospital bed, "Guten tag, Feli. It's good to see you again."

"Wahh, Luddyyyy, I thought your arm was broooookkeeeenn!" I cry loudly into his chest.

He sighs, returning the embrace. "I can see that."

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" And there's Lovino.

"MIOS DIOS, I LEAVE YOU TO YOUR OWN DEVICES FOR ONE MINUTE, ONE GODDAMN MINUTE, AND YOU GO AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MY FRATELLO, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

"But, fratello-" I begin.

"NO, SHUT UP, FELI! I'M NOT DONE YET-"

"Alright, time to take a siesta." Right on cue, Toni enters the room and hoists a still screaming fratello onto his shoulder. "Have fun, you guys~!"

All is silent as the two walk off, one reluctantly and one with a spring in his step.

"... What is up with Antonio and slinging Lovino over his shoulder like that?"

"I have absolutely no idea." I grin and squeeze him tighter, "Ve~ I like hugs!"

* * *

"Damn, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starved!" My bruder cackles madly, "But, no, seriously, what's for lunch?"

"Yes, I must admit that after that window fiasco, I'm quite famished as well." Roderich hums.

Francis clasps his hands together, "Yes, snacks, here we come!"

"I can go for some more tomatoes," Antonio gives a lazy grin, following some of the others, Lovino still on his shoulder, red-faced and fuming. I kid you not, the fox spirit had kept a firm grip on the furious Italian the entire time, even in the car.

"I'm not really hungry right now. Are you?" Feliciano asks me.

I shrug, wincing at the usage of my shoulder, "Not particularly, but I don't think it's a good idea to try painting again."

He makes a thoughtful noise, "Well, do you want to wander around the neighbor's vineyards then?"

"Alright, sure."

A short while later, we walk between rows upon rows of grapes, simply taking in the tranquil breeze and comforting silence. I regard Feliciano with a calculating gaze.

_ He's really adorable _ .

His cutesy doe-eyes are open for once, a deep, perfect amber, tawny locks attempting to obscure the hued ovals. His head tilts from side-to-side in some unheard beat, causing the curl sticking out from the side of his head to shift in time, as well as following the light bounce in his steps. Fair skin seems to nearly glow when basking in the light of an unclouded sun. He seems almost angelic. He's opposite to myself, being warm tones and soft, rounded corners. Comparing him to a sculpture simply wouldn't do any justice; their cold, hard edges are only a mere echo, rotting in his shadow. His smiles practically  _ radiate _ happiness, and he must be the most innocent-minded person to be able to say he "slept with Luddy last night" and think nothing of it. Sometimes, he can be too innocent for his own good. Take, for example, innocently falling off the roof. And I purposely fell after him. I didn't even think about it; I simply acted on instinct and did the best I could to save him.

At the thought of Feliciano splattered upon the ground in a grotesque mess of flesh and bone, I begin to feel faint. And that's when I realize that I'd jump after him again if I had to. And that's when I realize that I've never felt this tightening in my chest at the idea of someone getting hurt before,  _ even when sick _ .

I pale at the conclusion that this is not an infection.

* * *

"Gilbert, we need to talk."

"What- hey! What's the big deal; I was eating an awesome sandwich!" The arctic wolf exclaims as I drag him upstairs.

I grit my teeth, "Like I said, we need to talk."

"Ja, I kind of got that, but why do we need to do that up here? What's so important you can't talk about it in front of the others?!"

"I'll explain in a bit," I quickly swing open the door to the room I'd been sleeping in while here, shoving Gilbert in before shutting and locking the door behind me.

"Alright, what's up with you? You're acting funny," As I turn to meet his scarlet gaze, he gives me a slightly worried look, then splits his face in half with a devious grin, "Kesesesese, don't tell me you somehow hit your head when you fell earlier?"

_ Why did I go to Gilbert again? _

Oh, ja, that's right; he's the only one I know and trust enough to ask about this kind of thing. Sheisse.

I advert my eyes to the floor, suddenly embarrassed. "I, well," I sigh, "I want to talk about my feelings."

This seems to automatically shut him up. "You- you what?!"

I stare directly at him and repeat, "I want to talk about my feelings."

He looks absolutely dumbfounded, eyes wide and jaw nearly hitting the ground. "Holy shit, you're serious. West, my stoic, emotionally guarded little bro,  _ wants to talk about his feelings _ . Who are you and what the actual fuck did you do with mein bruder?!"

I glare, "What- I didn't do anything to myself, you dummkopf! I've just been feeling some strange emotion I've never felt before, and I want some advice on how to suppress it!"

" _ Suppress _ it?! Why would I teach you how to better imitate a  _ rock _ in your day-to-day life?!"

"Because I don't know how to react to this! Don't you care about my emotional well-being?!"

"Well, ja, but you really need to learn not to fear this shit! Emotions are what make us the people we are, and if you need to cry, then, hell, cry away! It's healthy to do that!"

"I don't need to cry!"

"Then why are we yelling at each other?!"

"Because I just want you to tell me what the fuck is going on with my emotions!"

"How am I supposed to help you if  _ I _ don't know what's going on?!"

"Then let me tell you!"

"Go ahead!"

"Fine, I will!"

"Fine, and I'll listen!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

I take a deep breath and seat myself down on the bed, my idiot of a bruder crash-landing next to me. "I've been feeling weird around someone lately."

"Weird like puke-inducing weird, or weird like schmetterling weird?"

"Neither."

"Huh, really?"

"Ja, I know right? It's like this odd, gut instinct to do things. Like, when he fell off the roof earlier. Me going after him and grabbing onto the windowsill was an example of that. When I'm around Feliciano, I react more quickly and on instinct as opposed to rational thought. It's like, when he's in danger, I can't think about anything besides his safety, and I'm not even really thinking anyways. I'm just doing the first thing that comes to mind! It's- It's like my subconscious is wired to- to protect him or something. Bruder, what does this mean?"

Gilbert gives me a long look.

* * *

At dinner, everyone is eerily silent. Plus, some people are acting weirder than normal. Take, for example, Gilbert. He keeps sneaking glances at me for seemingly no good reason. It kind of freaks me out, having all of the known troublemaker's attentions on me. It's especially creepy with his frankly demonic eye color; it feels like he's staring into my soul! However, by far, the most unusual part about this is the look in his eyes. It's not malice; it's not contempt; it's not even mischief. No, the arctic wolf's gaze is very clearly laced in  _ curiosity _ . What about me is making Gilbert so curious?! Wahh, it's scaring me!

And then, besides the strangely inquirous one of the group, there's still Luddy to worry about too. He simply sits there, poking at his food with a silver fork, a sense of lost-ness in his ice-like eyes. I don't have a very good feeling about this. What if he's sick or something? What if he got an infection from his wounds and just didn't want to tell us? What if he's dying? What if he actually dies? Oh no, then he'd probably haunt cousin Francis's house for the rest of eternity! That would be terrible; I don't want my cousin to be stalked by some ghost! What if Ludwig blames his death on Francis? What if he tries to avenge himself? What if he kills everyone in the house?! Nooooo, he can't do that! I DON'T WANT TO DIEEE!

Everyone stares at me in confusion. "Whoops, how much of that did I say out loud?" I laugh nervously.

"The 'I don't want to die' part." Fratello responds flatly, "The fuck is wrong with you this time?"

"Ve~ Accidenti!" I giggle, "I must have been thinking aloud, sorry!"

"Thinking about  _ what _ ?" Luddy gives me the most adorable look of worry. Aww, he's so cute when he's upset!

"Oh, nothing," I shovel some pasta into my mouth, "I was just thinking about how bad it would be if you died from an infection you never told us about and took out your pent up frustration on something more valuable than the wall!"

" _ Oh mon dieu, please don't tell me he smashes more vases in your fantasy. _ "

"Nope!"

"Merci!"

"He smashes something more fleshy than that!"

"C-comment?!"

"Just what do you take me for, some psychotic, axe-wielding murderer?!"

Simultaneously, Lovino mutters si and Toni freezes at the mention of an 'axe-wielding murderer.'

"I didn't do it," The fox blurts out.

"Didn't do what?!" Arthur glares.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about anymore, since I zoned out until 'axe-wielding murderer,' but whatever it is, I swear I didn't do it."

Gilbert breaks out in a bellowing laugh, "Geez Toni, what do you think this is, our pirate days?"

"'Pirate days?!'" Luddy sends his fratello a stern look, "What about pirates?!"

He shuts up at Ludwig's intervention, "Uh…"

"Again, I didn't do it."

"No one said you did, you damn tomato bastard!"

"So… no one's going to break anymore vases, right?"

" _ Gilbert _ ."

"Roddy, help me; West's giving me the evil eye!"

"You know what, why do I even bother with you  _ bloody idiots _ -"

"Gilbert, I want nothing to do with this argument, and that's all I'm going to say on the matter."

" _ Gott verdammt, Roddy _ -"

" _ Gilbert, I am going to kill you one of these days, so help me Gott _ ."

_ Yay, everyone's back to normal again! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahah, I love how as soon as people start arguing Feliciano happily thinks to himself 'Yay, everyone's back to normal again!' So yeah, this was the last chapter before Feliciano & Ludwig are magically bound, which will take place in 2.28. Aside from that, just a reminder, part 2 ends with 2.4, then afterwards will be an intermission.  
> I guess I'll see you tomorrow!


	15. 2.28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, blink & you'll miss it Fruk  
> Warnings: None

-2.28-

"Ve~ It's such a nice day out." As usual, Feliciano and I lay in Francis's garden, watching the clouds go by.

"Hm," I grunt in response.

"Luddy, don't you think that one looks like a bunny?" He grins, pointing at a lump of fluffy, white, crystalized water, "It kind of reminds me of Arthur!"

"I suppose."

I feel him lightly elbow me, "Hey, are you alright? You've been acting kind of weird lately."

"Oh, have I?"

"Si! You've been really distant! You even pushed me away when I tried to cuddle you last night," He pouts. "Is something wrong?"

I sigh, "Nein, it's not your fault. I've just- things have been a little complicated."

He frowns but drops the subject, staring for a long moment before going back to the clouds.

" _ You see, Lud, there's this thing we way awesome spirits have evolved over the years. I know you're probably still in awe of just how awesome we are, so I'll just cut to the chase. Basically, when we find a human so flat-out pathetic that they can barely take care of themselves, we get an incredibly strong urge to watch over them, which normally leads to magically binding ourselves together and shit. I like to call this 'mother hen attraction.' Kesesesese~" _

" _ Wait a minute, I've only known him for a little over a week. Is this even possible in such a short time frame?" _

" _ Eh, fuck if I know!" _

Why did Gilbert have to go and do this to me? Now that I know what's going on, 'mother hen attraction' has been ringing in my ears for the past two days. Better yet, why did this have to happen at all? Sure, because of that afternoon in the woods, I've reunited with my bruder, and by extension met quite a colorful cast of characters, but I've also been struggling with this stupid instinct for the past week or so. This just isn't  _ fair _ . It isn't fair how whenever I see him happy I get some stupid, fuzzy feeling inside, it isn't fair that he's just so damn adorable, and it certainly isn't fair that, ever since he came to me after having a nightmare, Feli's been sneaking into my room in the middle of the night for cuddles. It's not fair in the slightest, and yet there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. I can't push him away, because that'll only make it worse, nor can I keep him close, because then it'll hurt all the more when I leave. After all, my first wound is all but gone and my third's already halfway healed. Even if I don't want to go, hell knows Lovino will kick me out anyways.

I sigh aloud. Why must this be so complicated?

* * *

 

For the first time in… well, for the first time, I lay in my own bed, pondering life. I originally planned on crashing in Luddy's room, but then I thought better of it and decided it would be much easier to coax my friend into cuddling if he were roughly half asleep. Ludwig agrees to everything when he's tired! That, and also from my experience he's just cuter when he's all grogged-up and whiny!

_ Ve~ I like Luddy; he's really fun to be around! I'm going to be really sad when he leaves… _

Wahh, I don't like thinking about that! Reminding myself Ludwig's going to have to leave me makes this tear-jerking feeling well up in my throat and I hate it! Luddy's really the first person to spend so much time with me, and when he's gone, it's going to be a lot quieter and lonelier around here. Besides, who's going to help me tie my shoelaces?! Fratello gets mad at me whenever I ask him, Toni's normally busy because of this thing he calls 'Lovi being high-maintenance,' cousin Francis is a little too buzzed off wine to care, Arthur has a whole bunch of important managerial stuff he's always doing, uncle Roddy wouldn't do it to save his life, and Gilbert's just a big old meany! LUDDY'S THE ONLY ONE WHO HELPS ME TIE MY SHOES, KEEPING ME FROM TRIPPING, FALLING, AND DYING; I CAN'T LOSE HIM NOW!

"WAHH!" I jump up from my bed and slam the door open, sprinting down the hall in the direction of Ludwig's room. I yank on the crystal doorknob and shut it behind me, crying loudly. I prance onto the mattress, "WAHH, LUDDYYYY!"

"Feli, what the hell are you-"

"DON'T LEAVE ME; I HAVE NO ONE ELSE TO TIE MY SHOES FOR MEEEEEEE!"

"Wait, what?!"

I forcefully wrap my arms around his neck in a hug. "WAHH!"

After a short while, he releases an exasperated sigh and returns the embrace, shifting the blanket to cover myself as well, "Hey, it's alright. Calm down."

Cuddled close to his chest, my previous wailing dies down to soft sniffling, my face buried in his shirt, causing the area to become slightly damp with tears, "I- I was thinking, about how you're going to l-leave soon, and- and I don't want you tooooooooo!"

"If it makes you feel better, I think you ought to know that I, um," He hesitates, "I, well, I- I don't really want to go either."

I peer up at him. Ludwig's eyes are adverted sharply to the side, and if you look close enough, you can see a faint blush on his cheeks. He's bashful…

_ So cute~ _

_ Wait, did he just say- ?! _

"LUDDY!" I exclaim jovially, tackling him onto the bed, "DO YOU REALLY MEAN IT?!"

"What- why are you crying again?!"

I wipe the liquid from my eyes, "Tears of joy, Luddy, tears of joy!"

_ Ve~ I really like Luddy! _

* * *

 

Feliciano and I roam the neighboring vineyards for about the millionth time.

_ I sure hope we don't do this for the entire summer _ , I think to myself,  _ These vineyards are pretty and all, but I'm fairly certain they're going to get old soon _ .

Ever since that short outburst last night, the simple-minded Italian had been practically glued to my side. Afterwards, he'd slept in my room yet again, completely sprawled out on top of me, almost as if ensuring I wouldn't run off or something equally stupid. Then, at breakfast, he held my hand under the table the entire time, much to the chagrin of his 'fratello.' And now, as we walk around, he's gripping my arm as if his life depends on it. For some odd reason, I'm far less annoyed with this development than I thought I would be. Must have something to do with that 'mother hen attraction' Gilbert's been drilling into my head at the strangest of times, normally in German so the others can't figure out what he's talking about.

_ Mein bruder is such an IDIOT _ .

And yet, despite his blatant ridiculousness, something in his words just  _ has _ to ring true. There just  _ has _ to remain a weird feeling of possession and protectiveness towards Feli. There just  _ has _ to be the fact that because of these shenanigans I've internally decided to stay for far longer than originally intended. Feliciano just  _ has _ to have literally no one else to spend so much time with. What, exactly, am I to do in this sort of situation? I can barely believe this is happening.

What's even worse is that I can only get away with randomly being here so long. Sooner or later, Lovino's going to be pissed to find I'm practically good as new, and kick me out. What I really need is an excuse as to why I'm staying, and there's no real option besides the most insane one, consisting of two words: magically bound. This is crazy. This is a decision that will permanently affect my existence; either I commit to being with this eccentric Italian and his zany family for at least the rest of his life, or I run off into the woods, return to my community, and continue as things were before. If I stay, I can reunite with my bruder and spend more time with Feliciano, but I'll probably never see my community again. If I leave, I can inform the others about what happened with those shadow wolves, but I'll be separated from all of the people here. Either way, I lose something in favor of another.

So, the main question is 'which is my top priority: the community or the family?'

I bite back a groan. This is difficult.

* * *

 

"Ve~ ve~ ve~ ve~" I snuggle closer to the warm wall of person before me, breathing softly.

_ Ve~ so comfy! _

Amber eyes flutter as the mass I've been using as a pillow begins to shift, a low humming noise emanating from his throat. I quietly giggle and wrap my arms tighter around him, closing my eyes once more. His heart beats a strong and steady rhythm, heated breath spilling into the air routinely. Then, there's a slight hitch in the predictable pattern as his muscles tense, then relax.

"Mmm, Feli?" He murmurs in a raspy, sleep-hazed voice.

I hum lightly and give his midsection a small squeeze, "Si?"

"... What time is it?"

I snap wide-awake, "We're late for breakfast again, aren't we?"

And so, at roughly nine thirty in the morning, the two of us can be found rushing through the halls, still in our pajamas, a full half-hour past the meal's set time. One of us moves in long strides, trying to remain calm despite the franticness displayed by his faster speed than usual. The other prances about in quick and panicked steps, bouncing down the stairs. When we reach the formal dining room, I burst the door open to see everyone sitting casually, enjoying their breakfast, all except for Arthur, who's busy pretending to burn a pair of holes in the door with his imaginary laser-vision.

"Is there ever going to be a day that you two  _ aren't _ late for breakfast?"

"At this rate, I think it's safe to assume the answer's 'no,'" I look sheepishly at the coniglio and take my seat at the table.

"If it's anyone's fault, it's Feliciano's," Luddy follows my lead, "He was up before I was and let me sleep in."

Fratello makes a low, angry noise, "Don't blame your problems on the kid, you barbaric asshole."

"Hey, Lovi, do you think there are tomato trees?" Without a second thought, Toni interrupts Lovino's glaring with the most moronic question he can think of, setting the fuming Italian's rage onto him instead.

"WHAT?! WHY THE HELL IS THAT EVEN A QUESTION?!"

"Well, there are tomato  _ vines _ , right? So why can't there also be tomato trees, or tomato bushes?"

I grin and hum cheerfully and consume my beloved pasta, as fratello begins to go on yet another tirade, this one directed at the fox spirit. Munching on my breakfast, I gaze around at the others. Francis seems to be attempting to reassure Arthur in the wake of no one ever listening to him; well, that is until his eyes get that particular sheen to them and he says one thing or another that makes his companion blush, hitting him upside the head. Uncle Roddy docilely nurses his coffee, deciding not to get involved in the others' shenanigans. And then there's Ludwig, eating his omelet as Gilbert purposely elbows him, muttering something in German. The gray wolf spares a moment to send the other quite a nasty look before responding in their mutual language, going back to his food.

_ I wonder what Luddy and Gilbert are talking about… _

However, coming to the conclusion that if they don't want to speak of it with others, then that's their business, I return to my pasta for breakfast with great enthusiasm. The rest of the meal goes as normal, Lovino occasionally making some irritated remark, only to be promptly stopped in his tracks by Toni. Cousin Francis and Arthur continue to bicker, Roderich continues to stay out of it, and I continue to eat my delicious, delicious food. Much to my worry, the wolf brothers also continue to do what they're doing, speaking in hushed German, glancing in my direction every once in awhile. It's kind of freaking me out.

And yet, when everyone's finished, I once again conjoin myself to Ludwig at the hip, dragging him off in the direction of the front doors. He looks around curiously, "Feli? Why are we going this way?"

"Oh, I was thinking I want to paint more pictures of the forest!" I grin and pull him along, grabbing my messenger bag from a nearby chair, "You know, the one where we first met?"

He sighs, "Alright, sounds great."

We walk down the side of the road, chatting aimlessly about this and that. In his eyes is some flicker of an unrecognizable emotion, fading in and out at various intervals. I tilt my head at this every so often, but deem it irrelevant and proceed with animatedly discussing the pros and cons to using watercolors to paint.

"- But, you have to be really careful when transporting the water for it, because if you're not, it could spill all over the place in your bag and completely ruin the painting!"

"Couldn't you just make sure the container's sealed?" Ludwig comments.

"Well, I guess, but what if it pops open?" I pout childishly.

He stares at me for but a moment before asking, "... How would it pop open?"

"You never know!" I grin and pick up my pace, "Now, come on; I see the forest ahead! This is going to be great!"

I dash towards the tree line, hunky wolf in tow, a jovial laugh bubbling out. Just as before, I feel my blood pumping with excitement as I reach the looming towers of trees. I skip through the woods, a merry beam plastered upon my face. Eventually, I plop myself down at the base of a sky-scraping oak in the middle of the forest, digging through my bag. Shortly after, Luddy seats himself to my right and leans over to peer at the actions of my bustling hands. Coating my brush with a lovely shade of parakeet, I begin to gently glob color onto the canvas with a small smile. The next few hours or so are spent like this, Ludwig watching in content silence as I mindfully fill the once-blank linen with a woodland scene.

A significant amount of time later, I feel a soft bump to my side, "Ve~?"

"Don't you think it's about time to head back for lunch?"

Sure enough, as he'd said, it's probably lunchtime, the sun hanging up in the middle of the sky. "Oh, okay! Let me just clean up my things," I shove my items into the bag I'd brought with me, cautiously deciding to hold the wet canvas instead of placing it with the rest of my supplies. I then stand, Ludwig following my lead. I take only but a few steps in the direction from whence we'd came, when a mighty hand sets itself onto my shoulder, stopping my movements.

I gaze up at the other curiously, "Ve~? Is something wrong?"

He gets a difficult look on his face before turning me around, firmly gripping my shoulders, "I- I've been thinking a lot about something lately."

_ Wait, is he blushing? Madonna, that's so CUTE! _ I smile absently.

Ludwig clears his throat into a hand, "And, well, as you most likely know, my wounds are for the most part healed." My stomach drops like an apple from a tree.

_ No no no no no no no no he can't be saying he's leaving nooooo! _

"L- Luddy?" I feel my eyebrows slide upwards in two miserable curves.  _ Noooo he can't just go now! _

"But the thing is, I don't really want to leave-"

_ OH MENO MALE. _

"- And yet, if I don't go sooner or later, Lovino's going to kick me out anyways. I think it's fairly obvious he can't stand me. So, after some, err, 'careful deliberation' with Gilbert, I've come to the conclusion that there's only one real solution to this predicament," He takes a deep breath, "For quite some time now, I've been feeling emotions I've never felt before. At the prospect of you being in danger, I get the uncontrollable urge to protect you, no matter the cost. This has especially been the case the past few days. I spoke with mein bruder about this, and apparently this is a weird instinct spirits have developed since their early interactions with humans. Unfortunately, he keeps taunting me with 'mother hen attraction.' It's very annoying.

"Anyways, I've come to care about you deeply. I find it slightly worrisome that everything's happened so fast, but I've decided that the pros of this outweigh the cons, and, well," He looks me in the eyes with a determined intensity, "Feliciano Vargas, I would be honored if you were to give me permission to magically bind myself to you."

I blink, before a large grin slowly stretches itself across my face. "OF COURSE YOU CAN!" I pounce on him, bringing us both to the ground. "OHTHISISGOINGTOBESOGREATIJUST-YOU'RESTAYINGFRATELLOWON'TBEABLETOMAKEYOULEAVEWE'REGOINGTOEATPASTAANDCUDDLEANDPLAYABUNCHOFFUNGAMESANDYOU'REGOINGTOCOMEPAINTWITHMEEVERYDAYANDIT'SGOINGTOBETHEBESTTHINGEVERAND-"

"Feli, breathe!" He shouts above my rambling. In response, I exaggeratingly take air in and out. "Good, you seriously need to stop trying to get everything you want out at once."

"Sorry, Luddy! I can't help it; I'm just so excited!" I hug him cheerfully, "But wait, how do you do this again? Do we just agree and move on with our lives, or is there some sort of- WAHH!"

Ludwig holds my face in his hands and I almost faint from the surge of energy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY GUESS WHAT THEY FINALLY DID IT! THEY FINALLY MADE IT SO LOVINO CAN'T KICK LUDWIG OUT, REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH HE HATES HIM! YAY!  
> So yeah, this is the chapter in which the two of them finally get magically bound together. When are they going to start dating? The end of part 3, the last part. When does part 2 end so we can get to part 3 already? About five chapters. =3  
> Part 2 ends with 2.4! Also, each part & the intermission have an official & uncreative title to them. Here they are thus far:  
> Part 1- A Really, Really Long Time Ago  
> Part 2- Modern Times  
> So guess what the intermission & 3 will be? They don't follow the pattern, but instead relay what the intermission & part are about!  
> Anyways, see you tomorrow!


	16. 2.3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, blink & you'll miss it Fruk  
> Warnings: None, aside from Francis's dirty mind

-2.3-

“This is fucking stupid. There’s no way in hell he would actually go through with this after only knowing Feli for  _ two fucking weeks _ .”

“Lovi, stop talking.” Antonio lazily pats the simmering, red-faced Italian on the head, avoiding his curl purely using the skill that comes with practice.

“How do we even know he was thinking about it in the first place?” Arthur mutters irritably, “Gilbert’s our most reliable source on this, and, well, he’s Gilbert. For what ridiculous reason have we all of a sudden decided to trust  _ him _ of all people?”

“Oui, although I’d like to think you’re a reliable source of information when it comes to your own brother, how do you know this stuff anyways, mon ami?”

The arctic wolf snickers and pushes Francis down, “Because West told me this morning, dummkopf! And as for why we’re crouched under this window? Simple: knowing how much of a fucking pansy mein bruder can be, it’s only about a fifty-fifty chance he’ll grow a spine and do what he wants, so we’re going to wait here until they come back.” He looks ahead, “Humans tend to be pretty exhausted after bonding with a spirit animal, so if Feli’s tired AF and no one’s physically hurt, it’s safe to assume he did it. Now all of you need to shut your traps; I think I can see them.”

And, sure enough, two figures can soon be spotted approaching the manor, one carrying the other. “Yup, he went through with it.” Gilbert grins wolfishly, rushing out the door.

He slams the giant, orange entrance shut and approaches the newcomers. “Kesesesese~” He releases a mischievous laugh before speaking to his brother in German, “So, you actually did it?” Gilbert allows himself to skim over them, “Damn, you guys look like shit.” And it’s true; dark bags have made their presence under Ludwig’s eyes, and he appears to be more drained than usual. Meanwhile, Feli looks even worse. Hell, he’s not even conscious!

“Gilbert, shut up,” He responds in kind with a sigh. “Yes, I went through with it, and I feel like I’m going to collapse. Feli  _ already _ collapsed. He’s sleeping like a baby!”

“Aww, and an adorable one at that,” The older coos, right before slapping a rambunctious hand on the gray wolf’s back, “Gah, I’m just so proud of you! I mean, look at this; it seems like just yesterday you were sucking on ma’s tit!”

He glowers, “Gil, I said shut up. I’m not in the mood for it right now.”

“What? Come on, brosef! This is cause for celebration.”

“Please, any reason to drink your life away is good enough ‘cause for celebration’ in your mind.” The younger groans, “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to put Feli to bed, then take the nap of the century. Wake me up in the year two-thousand five-hundred.”

And, with that, his little brother enters the mansion, only for loud, angry-sounding Italian to erupt forth, along with the smashing of yet another vase and a cry of French anguish.

* * *

 

Clear water ripples distort the inside of a glass on the bedside table, its image refracted by the folds and slants of an intricately-carved peacock. I heave a mild sigh from an armchair nearby, following the rise and fall of my charge’s chest. My  _ charge _ . It’s acceptable to call him that now, right? After all, it’s become my duty to watch over and protect him, so that makes him my ‘charge,’ doesn’t it? I freeze.

_ Wait a second, I know nothing about guarding a living thing. _

This is truly insane. Back in my community, I was a  _ hunter _ . I’ve never had to be responsible for other spirits, much less significantly more foolish humans! What was I thinking?!  _ Gott _ , I really need to stop asking my brother for advice. I take a few deep breaths.

_ Calm down, Ludwig; you’ve still got Gilbert, Arthur, and Antonio, remember? _

Yes, that’s right. Surely, three experienced spirit animals far older and wiser than myself can help with this, correct? I consider the three. Actually, scratch that; Antonio’s as incompetent as humans themselves, Arthur’s always busy with something or other, and Gilbert’s, well,  _ Gilbert _ . I am completely doomed.

“Ve~” I briefly jump at the sudden noise, regarding the other hesitantly as amber eyes blinked open. He smiles drunkenly and shifts, the blanket rubbing against its own folds with a soft sound of movement.

I gesture towards the table with a straight face, “I got you a glass of water. I thought you might be thirsty after waking.”

The younger lazily sits up, adjusting himself at the speed of a turtle, the crimson covers of his bed unwinding from their hold around his petite frame. He rubs his eyes with both hands and turns to face the table and me, releasing a high-pitched yawn. One hand grabs ahold of the glass, the other still removing all traces of sleep from his face, and carefully brings it to his lips. He takes long, slow gulps of water, then wipes the stray drops from his mouth.

The redhead gazes at me with a look of utmost contentment, “Ve~ Thank you, Luddy!”

I cough into my fist, “It- it was nothing.”

He smiles, then pauses. His face takes on that strange expression it adopts when he’s being thoughtful about something, mulling and processing information in his head. “That wasn’t very nice of Gilbert to leave like that, was it?”

“No, it wasn’t.” My expression almost unnoticeably turns downward.

He giggles softly, “It’s no wonder you gave him two black eyes!” Amber eyes blink a few times, “Actually, your memories told me who you and Gilbert are descended from so that’s interesting.”

“Yes, of course they did,” I look down.

“Luddy, don’t you think it’s funny that our ancestors were bound together, and now we are too?”

I feel my face pale, “Well, not really. The wolf spirit Aldrich died a virgin as far as anyone knows; Gil and I are descended from his younger brother. He’s our great-something-or-other uncle.”

A long, silent moment passes before Feliciano finally exclaims, “This is awkward! Why are you being awkward when we’re stuck together?”

“Um, w-well-”

“Nope, no excuses! If we’re going to be at each other’s sides for the rest of my life, I don’t want there to be any weird tension, okay?” I regard his cheerfully casual grin for but a few seconds.

“Alright then.”

* * *

 

I skip down the carpeted stairs, humming merrily to myself. Behind me, the heavy, trudging footfalls of another follow dutifully. This continues down the hall, past walls lined with stunning paintings, and into the dining room, where the others can be found seated for supper.

“Feli! Holy shit, you’re alive!” I laugh giddily as fratello jumps out of his chair and rushes over, initiating a forceful hug.

“Si, I’m fine, but are you sure  _ you’re _ okay? You never hug me,” I return his embrace, my smile spreading as he tenses.

“Oh, fuck you! I do what I want!”

Toni groans, “Lovi, why don’t you ever hug  _ me _ ?”

“Shut up, you stupid pervert!”

Arthur scowls and separates fratello from myself, “Lovino, knock it off; isn’t it clear he’s gone through a life-changing event?!” He turns to me, “Are you alright?”

I nod with a large beam, “Uh-huh!”

“Good,” He responds in kind, “But, nevertheless, I suggest you sit down and eat something.”

With a bright grin on my face, I take Ludwig’s hand in mine and seat myself in an empty chair, the other taking the one next to me. Linking my arm with his, I turn to my food, nearly drooling at the sight of fresh pasta. I enthusiastically take hold of a fork and dig in. Man, magical binding sure made me hungry!

“So, how did this happen, anyway?” Cousin Francis asks with a curious tilt of the head.

I attempt to speak, only for Lovino to interrupt, “Don’t you  _ dare _ talk with your mouth full; honestly, I thought I raised you better than this! First, you run off with the brother of  _ Gilbert _ , and now you’re completely throwing manners out the window. What has this world come to?!”

Toni casually places a hand over his mouth with a hush, “I think you’re over-reacting.”

My twin merely flips the fox spirit off with a burning glare, unable to cuss him out.

“Damn, what is up with that kid and hating on my bruder just ‘cause we’re related?” Gilbert exclaims, “I mean, I’m not  _ that _ bad, am I?”

Without even looking at him, Uncle Roddy responds, “Yes, yes you are.”

“Hey!” The older of the wolf brothers barks, “You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Gilbert, I didn’t agree to anything, much less to being your little sidekick.”

He huffs, “Who said anything about sidekicks?”

“You did, just now.”

“Ja- well- oh, whatever! The point is, I’m not a bad person; I’m  _ awesome _ ,” The arctic wolf snaps.

I swallow the food I’d been chewing, “Anyways, didn’t cousin Francis ask a question?”

Everyone simultaneously turns to the Frenchman, “Oh, oui, I completely forgot about that!” He comments with a dazed grin.

“How the hell do you just  _ forget _ you asked something, especially when it’s the entire reason for an argument?” Arthur gives Francis a funny look.

“Oh, you know, just by thinking about how amazing it would be if I had you naked-”

“I’M CUTTING THAT OFF RIGHT THERE!”

“But besides that, I’m really happy about this turn of events!” I call out, “Luddy’s really nice, strong, he saved my life twice now, and I like it when I’m painting and he unconsciously leans on me, because I like cuddles!”

“HE DOES  _ WHAT _ ?!” Fratello explodes, yanking Toni’s hand away from him.

“Lovi, please, just leave them-”

“ _ NO _ ! I WILL NOT TOLERATE SOME ASSHOLE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF MY-”

“OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WHY CAN’T YOU ALL JUST STOP ARGUING FOR  _ ONE BLOODY MINUTE _ -”

“This is stupid.” Roderich looks down at his coffee in disdain, “I’m going to go grab some water or something.”

As he stands and exits the room, Ludwig asks, “Hey, wait a second, aren’t you going to help calm them down?!”

“I’m sure you can handle it,” He offhandedly tosses over a shoulder, “And if not, they always sort things out amongst themselves, whether that be through violence or reason.”

And so, Roderich makes his departure, leaving the gray wolf and me to make the rest of the group stop trying to kill each other with cutlery. He didn’t even take the coffee cup with him.

* * *

 

“Ve~ you know, things are going to be quite different for you from here on out.” It’s sudden, Feli breaking the tranquil silence that had fallen upon us.

I look at him from my place under a tree in the backyard, the leaves’ shade forming strange patterns upon his body. “How so?”

He remains carefully neutral, his words slow and thoughtfully conceived, “Well, I’m a Vargas, remember? Even if I’m just a kid, I’m still a huge celebrity. I have paparazzi stalking me on my way to school. As my spirit animal, you’re going to have to deal with that too.”

“Alright, so what?” My face contorts in puzzlement, “I went into this fully well knowing you’re a Vargas. If this is the kind of life I’ve committed myself to, then so be it.”

A smile breaks out across his features, “Great! I just wanted to make sure you’re aware of this, because I have an interview on live television tomorrow.”

“ _ You what _ ?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The moral of the story: Feli REALLY needs to start telling people things more than a day before it happens. Like, seriously.  
> This begins the 2.3's, the last big section of part 2! Whoop! Also, heads up warning, the intermission has smut. The intermission's at least double the length of a normal chapter, making the smut of it a little less than half. The more you know. =3  
> Anyways, sorry this is kind of late, but my mom & I went to the mall to get more pants & I raided the candy store; we only got back roughly a half an hour ago.  
> See you tomorrow!


	17. 2.32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita & Spamano  
> Warnings: Mild violence

-2.32-

A lovely French talk show hostess grins broadly while facing the nearest camera, showing off her flawless, pearly white smile. Her elegantly pampered hands gesture about, motioning for the live studio audience to silence themselves. With a short, giddy laugh, she begins to speak, “Bonjour, everyone! Now, we have a  _ very _ special guest. It took the producers a lot of convincing to get this exclusive interview. And, with that, I would love it if you’d join me in giving a huge welcome to, straight out of Italy, Europe’s seventeen year old sweetheart, Feliciano Vargas!”

Right on cue, the young redhead skips out from backstage, smiling and waving at his viewers with a wink. “Ciao!”

As the crowd roars with cheers and squeals, the hostess and Feli near, hugging and greeting like old friends. When the background music begins to die down, they separate from their embrace and seat themselves comfortably in a pair of violet armchairs, the teen bouncing up and down on the springy cushion. Those watching promptly quiet down as an eager hush falls over the area behind the camera.

“So, first of all, it is really great to have you here today!” She addresses her famous guest.

He giggles in response, “It’s my pleasure! I really like these chairs; they’re very nice and fun to bounce on.”

Almost instantaneously, the audience breaks out in a chorus of ‘awws’ and cries of his adorableness. Even the hostess gushes for a moment before making a swift recovery, “Aww, aren’t you just the cutest?” Feli merely gives a small titter, a light, flattered blush on his face.

“Why, thank you! I can assure you that I know much cuter people, though.”

“I’d bet good money on that,” She jokes in good nature. However, the woman then leans in, shifting to a more gossipy tone, “Speaking of people you know, word on the street says you finally got a spirit animal.”

The Italian gasps, “Wow, you guys found that out so fast! It’s only been a few days!”

“Yes, well, I have a very reliable source!” She grins fakely, “Anyways, about that spirit of yours. What are they like? We haven’t managed to get a public appearance yet.”

“Oh, Ludwig’s the best!” His sunny beam of teeth grows impossibly wider, “He’s the nicest guy ever!”

“So ‘Ludwig’s his name?” The hostess perks up in intrigue, motioning for someone backstage to start writing things down, “What else?”

He thinks things through for about five seconds, before rattling away information off the top of his little head, “First of all, he’s a gray wolf, which is super ironic since my ancestor’s spirit animal was  _ also _ a gray wolf. Plus, what’s really weird, is- wait, you know my uncle Roderich, right? Well, Roderich’s spirit animal, Gilbert, is actually Ludwig’s older brother! Isn’t that crazy? I mean, I guess it’s both good and bad, because while they finally get to be reunited, Luddy was really mad at Gilbert for a good while, since apparently Gilbert kind of abandoned him a couple of centuries back, which was a really, really mean thing to do! Oh, and as for ‘Luddy,’ that’s the nick-name I gave him! Isn’t it cute? It totally fits him! At first, he’s really mean and scary looking, because he’s kind of intimidating, but also kind of attractive, because he has a really nice butt, like it’s  _ really _ nice. Plus, he’s also really nice himself, because he watches me paint, he makes me feel less lonely, he lets me sleep with him-”

“Wait, he does what?!”

“Si, he lets me sleep with him!” Feli nods enthusiastically with a jubial beam, “Why does everyone freak out when I tell them that? What’s so bad about liking to cuddle when you sleep? Fratello and I used to share a bed all the time when we were little.”

“Oh, merci mon dieu,” She sighs in relief. “You really are too innocent sometimes, you know that?”

“Huh? What makes you say that?”

She closes in next to Feli’s ear and shields her mouth with a hand, whispering. His eyes widen, “Oh, so that’s why Luddy’s face goes all red when I go around saying it!” The hostess nods wearily.

“But, wait, why’s that a bad thing again?” Her expression drops and the audience nearly faints at his confused voice, “I mean, it’s not like he’s unattractive. He has a nice butt, remember? Are you saying you don’t think he has a nice butt?”

She laughs awkwardly, “H- hey, where is he, anyways? Surely, he wouldn’t leave you to your own devices so soon, would he?”

“Oh, of course not!” He cheers right up once more, thoroughly distracted for the moment. “He came here with Toni, fratello, and I, but I haven’t seen him backstage in awhile.” He squints his eyes, peering about the audience. “Now that you mention it, I don’t see him anywhere.” His lips purse up for but a moment before the Italian simply shrugs with a grin, “Oh well! He probably ran off to find somewhere with a better view of the area; Luddy can get pretty serious sometimes.”

Meanwhile, I lean over the railing of the catwalk, watching the interaction transpire. I groan, dropping my flushed head into an awaiting palm. “Feli, why do you have to be so naïve?”

_ Well, at least someone finally explained what it means to say you ‘slept with’ someone _ …

And then his immediate response was ‘why is that a bad thing?’ And then he proceeded to accuse the talk show hostess of disagreeing with the comment about my butt being ‘really nice.’ I’m starting to think that the only way to get him to stop saying such ridiculous things is to sit down and specifically state what is okay and not. Honestly, someone of seventeen years, even a human, should know this kind of thing. Feli literally has the mind of a child. Well, except for that butt line, but besides that.

I heave a great sigh and slick my hair back once more, gazing down at the studio. As Feli’d presumed, I’d quickly snuck out of the backstage area, stowing away in the empty alcoves above so as to get a better view of the place. Completely new to this sort of thing, I have no idea what I’m doing. However, from past experiences, the best strategy is normally the overly-prepared one, so here I am, waiting for something to happen. That is, if something even does. For all I know, I could just be superfluously paranoid about this. After all, the security here’s almost impenetrable, both of the Vargas twins being present. This could be completely pointless.

The soft clanks of feet on metal grating sound from somewhere off to my right. My head immediately whips in that direction to see an unfamiliar figure dressed all in black. He freezes. I stare. All at once, we leap into action. The unknown person lunges towards me, sharp object in hand, its blade glinting menacingly in the dim lighting. Eyes wide, I narrowly dodge the other’s jabs, the knife following my movements. I attempt to get behind him, yet find it quite difficult as the unauthorized person stares directly at me, carefully aiming his weapon for vital regions.

While the stand-off continues, I pay close attention to the rhythm of their attacks, pivot, swing, stab, pivot, swing, stab, pivot, swing, stab, pivot. Right on the swing, I move forward, grabbing their wrist and forcing the knife from their clutches, the layered noise of impact echoing throughout the area. Their weapon gone, they become more frantic, and I soon find myself face-down on the floor, one arm pinned behind me at an incredibly uncomfortable angle. I cry out, straining against the other’s grip, quick pants for breath coming from each of us due to exertion.

And then, footsteps ring out from the stairs. “Hey, Ludwig, you up here?” A cheerful, Spanish voice calls, then gives a short gasp at the scene, “Holy shit!”

I growl from my place on the metal grates, “Antonio, are you going to help me or not?”

Before anyone knows what’s going on anymore, the cloaked being is swiftly pulled off of me, a sigh of relief escaping my lungs at the removal of unwanted pressure. At the fox’s bubbling shout of “Move!” I stand and shuffle backwards, Antonio forcing the intruder to their hands and knees. A startled yelp sounding, the other spirit drops his bottom onto their lower back, keeping them to the ground. I maneuver myself around them, crouching down to pick up the abandoned knife, adrenaline continuing to pump through my veins with purpose.

“Did I just stop an assassination attempt?” I look from the others to the knife and back, unnerved and shaken.

“Correction:  _ we _ just stopped an assassination attempt,” He gives a lopsided grin, green, empty gaze holding a darker look than usual. Strange.

I groan, “This is not what I asked for when I decided to stick around.”

“‘s not what any of us asked for,” Antonio chuckles. “And yet, we do it anyways.”

Cautiously placing the blade in my pocket, tip up, I rise and approach the two. Seating myself upon the would-be assassin’s upper back causes a moan of discomfort to emanate from them, the Spaniard hitting the back of their leg with a hiss to keep it down.

“We should inform Feliciano and Lovino of this.” I looked down at the perpetrator’s covered face.

The other sighs next to me, “Yeah, I bet we kind of have to.”

I raise an eyebrow, “You seem reluctant.”

“I don’t know,” He meets my gaze with tired green, “I’m just worried Lovi will start fretting his heart out as soon as we tell him. It’s not like he’s a bad guy, not at all; the problem’s that sometimes he cares too much.”

I mull on that for a moment, “Is that why he doesn’t like me?”

Antonio gives a dry laugh, “Sort of! I mean, he doesn’t  _ hate _ you or anything. He only acts like a dick around you because he wants to keep Feli safe. It’s nothing personal.”

His eyes take on a distant look to them, as if recalling times long past, “He’s always been grumpy, whether he taking it out on others or himself,” I tilt my head curiously. The Spaniard clears his throat, “You see, growing up, everyone liked Feli better. He was sweet, adorable, cutely naïve, a prodigy in the arts… don’t get me wrong, they cared about Lovino. They cared about him a lot. However, the one they  _ liked _ was Feliciano, and the other knew this.

“One day, I guess he’d had enough. Pissed off and sad, he ran away from home, never wanting to see his family again. He ran, and ran, and ran, until he tripped in the woods and fell flat on his face, tears mixing with mud. After that, he curled into a small mound of five year old and began to cry his heart out in frustration with the world. How do I know? I was there.”

A somber sound pours from the back of his throat, “This was how we first met.”

I don’t know what to say to this.

A smile reappears upon his lips, but seems different from his usual rays of sunshine, less happy and more pained. “Now, imagine my surprise when I, an innocent fox, came across a small child in the middle of the woods, no adult humans in sight. I felt bad for him; I thought he’d been abandoned. And so, I spent the night with him, tried to help the kid out. I mean, why wouldn’t I?

“I guess it must have really touched him that I stayed, because he spilled his entire life story to me. After hearing about how he left of his own accord, I tried to push him out of the woods. I did whatever I could to get him to go home, but he just wouldn’t do it. At that point, I could only watch over him until he realized how much his family cared,” He sighs wistfully, “A night turned into a week, and Lovino, though he’d never admit it, grew pretty attached. Although, it’s not like I have the right to talk; I cared about him just as much as he cared about me. One thing led to another, and a full week after he ran off, Lovino Vargas returned home, his new fox spirit in tow.”

Antonio turns to me and grins contentedly, “So, you see? He may come off as abrasive, but deep down, Lovi’s just an adorable tomato!”

I nod slowly, processing this new information.  _ So, Antonio and Lovino have known each other for at least a decade… That certainly explains some of their relationship _ . And, not to mention, this means Lovino isn’t nearly as cold-hearted as I’d thought. Interesting.

The fox out his phone, messing around with it for a few moments. “Alright, I just sent Lovi a text; he’ll be up during the commercial break.”

I give him a long look,  _ Wait, then what was Antonio doing before all of this? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Gerita & Spamano are strong in this one. =3 So yeah, this chapter gave a look into the dynamic between Antonio & Lovino, as well as a silly little interview with Feliciano. What I really love is that someone finally explained to Feliciano what saying you 'slept with Luddy' means, only for his immediate reaction to be 'Wait, that's a bad thing?'  
> As for the assassination attempt, originally I was going to go into a chapter arc in which it would be heavily implied who the would-be-assasin was, but that was cut because I couldn't find a smooth way to put it in. Thus forth, who want to try & take a guess at who it was? =D Here's a list of everything I've given in this one chapter:  
> \- Able to overpower Ludwig, so definitely a spirit animal  
> \- Works for someone who would want Feliciano dead  
> Anyways, see you tomorrow & happy guessing!


	18. 2.34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, minor Spamano  
> Warnings: None aside from very, very mild violence

-2.34-

“Hey, bastard! The hell are you?” Angry footsteps are accompanied by an equally angry shout. A familiar head of brown slowly makes itself known, an eccentric curl sticking out.

“Over here!” Antonio beams, “We got the guy.”

“Alright, alright, I’m coming,” As he reaches the top of the stairs, Lovino gives us an incredulous look. “... Are you  _ sitting on them _ ?!”

Basil green eyes blink, “Well, si! How else were we supposed to keep them here?”

The elder twin’s eye twitches, but stops when he releases a loud, exasperated sigh, “You know what? Who the fuck even cares? Just bring ‘em over here or something so we can take off the mask.”

“Okay, Lovi~”

Antonio and I carefully stand, the fox spirit of the group cautiously gripping the perpetrator’s arm. And yet, the moment we get up from the floor, they pry his hand away and run for the hills. The three of us helplessly observe as the would-be assassin opens a latch to the roof, making their escape.

“OH YOU’VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME!” Lovino exclaims, “ARE YOU GOING AFTER THEM OR NOT?!”

As if pulled out of a trance, Antonio jolts before jumping out the opening with a start, yelling apologies behind him. At the human’s vile glare, I too head for the roof, but more carefully than the other. I gaze at the empty area in dismay, the fox spirit running amuck like a chicken with its head cut off.

“It appears we lost them,” I comment.

“The hell do you mean, you lost them?!” An outraged voice sounds behind me, as Lovino climbs out the latch as well.

I send him a disdained glance, “I mean exactly what I said. They must have climbed down or something.”

“Well then go look for them!  _ Merda _ , it’s like you two don’t know anything about catching assassins!”

* * *

 

“It’s been fantastic having you all here today, but sadly, our time is up!” The nice talk-show lady flashes a bright beam at the camera, “Au revoir!”

The audience claps enthusiastically as what’s-her-face closes, the two of us standing and shaking hands before I make my exit. I prance off to the ending music, my smile broadening at the others’ presence backstage.

“Luddy!” The wolf spirit gives a short grunt as I tackle him in a hug, “Where did you go? I missed you!”

“The catwalk,” He says curtly with a shrug. I tilt my head at his ambiguity, but decide to drop it. Instead, I release my captive cuddle-buddy to focus on my fuming twin and the miserable fox beside him.

“Ve~ ? Fratello, what’s wrong?”

He growls, “Mind your own business!”

I pout, “That’s not very nice.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not in a very nice mood right now,” Lovino huffs, burning holes into Toni’s dejected expression. “ _ Someone _ fucked up a simple task!”

“Lovi, I’m sorry!” The fox whines, “It’s not like I meant to let him go; I swear, I didn’t mean it; I’m  _ so _ sorry, Lovi; I just-”

Fratello groans, “Oh, shut up, will you?! You’re giving me a headache!”

“Wahh, lo siento, Lovi!”

“Don’t be sorry. Just don’t do it!”

I look to Ludwig in confusion, “Luddy, what happened while I was being interviewed?”

“Um…” He averts his gaze.

“Don’t tell him anything! It’ll only freak him out!” Lovino exclaims loudly, interrupting.

My eyes widen and shift to him, “What’ll only freak me out?!”

“ _ Merda _ ! It’s none of your business, so stay out of it!”

“Lovi, I’m so sorry-”

“I said shut up! Honestly what is with you and-”

“Fratello, why don’t you ever tell me anything?! Don’t you trust-”

“WOULD EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP?!”

All of us turn to Ludwig, observing his hard face. “What is with you guys and arguing? This has everything to do with Feliciano, so he has the right to know what’s going on, end of story!”

“But he’ll just-”

“ _ Nein _ ,” He cuts Lovino off, “It doesn’t matter what his reaction is; he could have died!”

“I what?!”

He faces me, “I was standing on the catwalk to have a better view of the area, when some figure cloaked all in black showed up. We fought for a while, then Antonio came upstairs looking for me and we detained him. During a commercial break, Lovino met us up there to see what was going on. Long story short, the would-be assassin escaped, and now Lovino’s pissed off at Antonio because we couldn’t catch them.”

And that’s when everything goes black.

* * *

 

I groan, “I can’t believe I let this happen.”

“Aw, come on, Ludwig!” Antonio pats me on the back, “You couldn’t have known he’d faint, right?”

“No, I suppose not, but I still wish I hadn’t told him before we came home; it would have been much easier to get him to a soft surface that way.”

An unconscious Feliciano lays on his bed, breathing softly in short puffs of air, of which sound strangely similar to that ‘ve’ noise he always makes. Bulky hands rub over my face before slicking my hair back once more.

“I just hope he isn’t too upset with me when he wakes up.”

The fox laughs jovially, “Feli, mad at someone? Please, at worst he’ll hug you while crying about how he almost died. He won’t blame you for a second!”

“Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, it’s not your fault,” Lovino adds from his place against door frame, glaring at his spirit animal, “If anyone fucked up here, it was the tomato bastard.”

“Lovi, I already told you I’m sorry about a million times over! What do I have to do to earn your forgiveness?!”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe  _ stop failing at life _ -”

“Oi, West, what’s going on in there?!” Lovino protests loudly as Gilbert pushes him aside, forcefully butting into the room. “What happened to Feli?”

“He fainted because I told him about an assassination attempt Antonio and I prevented.”

He gives a low whistle, “You seriously told Feli that he almost died? The hell’s wrong with you?”

“Mon petit cousin!” Francis shoves Gilbert out of the way, in a manner nearly identical to Lovino’s downfall, rushing to the redhead’s side. “I am so sorry I let these bad, bad people  _ manhandle _ you like this! Oh, mon cousin cher, will you ever forgive me?!”

“Francis, will you cut it out?!” Arthur makes his entrance as well, approaching the Frenchman and whacking him upside the head, “He’s asleep, not dead!”

“Mais, mon lapin, just imagine sleeping, innocent little Feli being senselessly dragged throughout town! My poor baby!”

“Okay, hold on a minute!” Lovino exclaims, his face a bright, irritated red, “That is the exact opposite of what happened!”

And yet, the only conscious Italian remains ignored. “MON PETIT COUSIN!”

Gilbert approaches Francis, not-so-gracefully pulling him away from the bed, “Alright, everyone SHUT UP!

“Ja, Feli’s unconscious; we’ve kind of got that, so how about we talk about something else? Take, oh, I don’t know, the fact that we didn’t catch the guy trying to kill him?!” He huffs irritably, “I mean, come on! There’s a psychotic assassin on the loose, and we’re just sitting around, arguing about stupid stuff! There are way more important things to worry over.”

“Finally, someone with common sense,” Lovino mutters under his breath.

“Oh, merde, you’re right!” The blond human cries in distress, “What if it happens again?! What if this time they actually manage to hurt my precious Feli?!” He falls into the arctic wolf’s arms melodramatically, “Gil, catch me. I feel faint!”

Gilbert promptly drops him, “Look alive; there’ll be time for napping later!” He then turns to meet all spectators’ gazes, “So here’s the  _ awesome _ plan I’ve come up with: first, we’re going to set up security cameras. I don’t mean just a few in the mansion or whatever. No, I mean everywhere. Like, say someone’s going for a nice stroll in the park. That chipmunk’s actually a secret camera. This way, no matter where Feli goes, we’ll always be able to catch suspicious activity! Then-” He pauses, “Ja, what do you want?”

Antonio lowers his hand from its sky-pointed position. “Gil, you do realize assassination attempts are normal for us, right?”

Gilbert blinks. “What?”

“Well, yeah, it’s bad that the assassin guy got away, but it’s really nothing new for someone to try to kill us. I mean, the Vargases are one of the most historically powerful families there are. Crazy almost-murders are pretty common,” He takes on a more thoughtful look, “Although, we usually catch them.”

“Exactly! You usually catch the guy!” The arctic wolf frantically waves his arms in the air.

A soft groan emanates from the bed, and everyone freezes, turning to face the culprit. Low and behold, the red headed Italian rises from his peaceful slumber, only to be faced with the chaos of everyone being in the room at the same time. He sleepily rubs at his eyes, a dopey smile on his newly-awoken face.

“Ve~ Good morning, everyone!”

For one odd moment, we all exchange glances, before silently deciding to go along with it, responding in a jumbled chorus of before-noon greetings. The only one not to do so is, of course, Lovino, who loudly proclaims, “It’s four in the fucking afternoon!”

Confused, the arguably more loveable of the twins tilts his head. “Hmm? But I just woke up, so that must make it morning, right?” Then, he stops as his eyes open wide, “Hey, wait a second-  _ Madonna, I almost died _ !”

“Ohh no, not on awesome watch!” Gilbert swiftly approaches Feli, pushing Francis away with a hand to the forehead, and proceeds to smack his face from side to side, “You are so not fainting again!”

“Wahh, Gilbert, stop it! I don’t like it when people hit me!”

“Oi, bastard! That’s my fratello you’re hurting, so knock it off before I hurt  _ you _ !”

“ _ Mon ami, quel est-ce que tu fais à mon petit cousin _ ?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I've just got a quick PSA I want to put out there:  
> Imagine this: a fanfiction author, minor and unimportant. They try desperately to get senpai to notice them, or at least some sort of reaction from their audience, but to no avail. The poor, lost fanfic writer even says in the A/N's that they love comments because comments, regardless of the content, help them improve their writing, but no one responds. Subsequently, they feel like no one actually gives a fuck about their content and begin to feel down about themselves and loose interest in writing their fanfic, because what's the point of writing it if no one's going to read it?  
> Thank you for your time.  
> Anyways, on that oh-so-cheerful note, I have another important announcement! I do, in fact, plan on writing a sequel to this after I finish writing SAS. The sequel will instead focus on Spamano in this AU, particularly on how Antonio met Lovino. Emphasis on 'how ANTONIO met LOVINO.' Yes, that's right, the story from the previous chapter was how LOVINO met ANTONIO, but now how ANTONIO met LOVINO. Cue time-travel shenanigans. =3  
> Aside from that, see you tomorrow!


	19. 2.36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, blink & you'll miss it Spamano  
> Warnings: None

-2.36-

I sit on a couch in the casual lounge, sipping at the tea Arthur had made to ease my nerves. My lips are turned downwards in a short pout, eyebrows raised at the center.

“Hold on a moment, didn’t you say assassination attempts were normal here?” Next to me, Luddy looks at Toni in a state of misunderstanding.

The Spaniard sitting across from us nods his head. “Si! The pursuit of murder’s routine. That’s why I’m always wandering around; I’m making sure nothing suspicious is happening. I was pretty surprised when we were let off the hook for, like, two weeks.”

Fratello huffs in disdain from his place beside Toni, “Yeah, they’re common, especially with the ‘darling sweetheart of Europe.’ But it’s not like we actually tell Feli anything.”

The gray wolf groans, “... And that’s why he fainted?”

“Pretty much.”

I subconsciously scooch closer to my companion. The room is unusually quiet for our family. However, I suppose this is because the others were kicked out before the three present began talking, Lovino saying, “Feli doesn’t need anymore loud, melodramatic bullshit right now, so fuck off!” I thought it would be nice to get some peace at the time, but now I’m not too sure I like the silence. It feels foreboding and tense.

“You people really need to start letting him in on things,” Ludwig’s eye twitched slightly, “How would you like it if no one told you that you were almost killed? It’s kind of an important thing, you know.”

Fratello snaps indignantly, “Excuse you? Are you questioning my competence as Feliciano’s brother? You have no right. You don’t know him  _ nearly _ as well as I do! Hell, I’ve been a part of his life since birth; we’re twins, for fuck’s sake! If anyone knows what’s best for Feli, it’s me, and what’s best is for him to not have to deal with absolute  _ cazzo _ like this! You saw first hand what happens when we let him into the loop, so you should understand by now exactly why we don’t give him every little detail about how close he came to death. We keep quiet about it and move on, end of story!”

At this point, Lovino’s stood up, arms raised in frustration, fingers occasionally jabbing in Ludwig’s direction. His face is flushed an angry red, eyes dilated in intensity. This can’t end well.

“U-um, guys, can we go get pasta?” I pull at Ludwig’s arm desperately, trying to get out of this discussion. “I think that’d be really nice; I really, really like pasta! Don’t you agree, fratello?” My gaze shifts to Lovino, “Isn’t pasta just the best?”

He looks at me for a hard moment, then releases a long-suffering sigh, “Si, pasta sounds great right about now.”

I grin, springing up from my seat to drag the hunky German out. “Come on, Luddy! I want linguini!” Ludwig simply goes with it, face the epitome of bafflement.

I drag him out the door, and sigh in relief. My eyes shift back to him after a time, my pace slowing. Ever attentive, he notices almost immediately.

“Feli? Are you alright?” His eyebrows scrunch together in the center out of concern. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

I can’t help the soft smile on my lips, “It’s fine, really. I’m okay with fratello hiding stuff from me as long as it’s for my own good! Now, let’s go eat pasta and be happy, alright?”

“Of course.” Ludwig agrees after but a moment of hesitation, but I can tell he’s still troubled by this. His gaze is laced with that same, far away finish I tend to get a lot. Funny how the one time I seem to think the clearest, he’s off in the clouds. Ironic, even.

Cheerful mood renewed, I pull him along, a flighty tune in my head.

_ I like pasta~! _

* * *

Pasta innocently sits in its bowl, watching as I consume its friends. Good thing pasta’s food and food can’t see, or this would be horrible! A beam stretches across my face, despite it being full of the delicious mid-afternoon snack. Across the table from myself is Ludwig, carefully following my movements with a plaintive look. I briefly wonder what he’s thinking about, but decide better than to ask and continue absent-mindedly nomming down.

“Yo, Feli, what’s up?” I turn to flash a smile at Gilbert, the loud wolf making his entrance and plopping into the seat next to me.

“Ciao, Gilbert!” From the corner of my eye, I passingly notice him nod at his brother in acknowledgement. “I’m eating pasta while Luddy has that weird expression he always gets when he thinks too hard about something.”

His visage goes blank. “I do not-”

Ludwig’s interrupted as the other gives a hearty guffaw, “Hell yeah! Man, that is so typical, West!”

“I know, right?” I laugh along. “I still haven’t figured what’s up with that face.”

Gilbert shrugs loosely. “It’s not like there’s anything ‘up’ with him; he just likes to think through things before he does them. Nothing wrong with that.” He grins wickedly, “Anyways, I just came over here because I thought it’d be entertaining. Roddy’s on the phone with Eliza again.”

“Ve~ Really? I want to talk to mama!”

“Oh no you don’t!” He pats me on the back. “If you start talking to her, she’ll ramble on, and on, and on about your health and personal welfare. Before we know it, you’ll have fainted again from her overwhelming amount of worries!”

“So I take it Roderich is informing the twins’ mother of Feliciano’s… er… ‘incident?’”

“Yup! Or at least, that’s what I got out of it. I really hate it when they speak stupid Hungarian while I’m within hearing range,” He breaks off in a groan, “Shit, you don’t think they’re talking about me behind my back, do you?”

The blond gives Gilbert a hard look, “That is most definitely what they are doing.”

The arctic wolf glares at Ludwig. I giggle. “Why would anyone diss the awesome me?! I’m the greatest thing ever, living or not!”

“Sure. And that’s why you sing stupid parodies of pop songs in the shower, changing the lyrics to focus on your supposed awesomeness.”

His cheeks ignite, whether in shame or frustration being unknown. “I do not!”

“Yes you do.”

“Do not!”

“Do too.”

“Do not!”

“Do too.”

“Do  _ not _ !”

“Do too.”

“ _ Do no _ -!”

“GILBERT, KNOCK IT OFF.”

Quiet reigns supreme for a time. Then, Ludwig speaks up, “Was that Roderich? From the other side of the house?!”

“Fucking hell, HOW DID YOU EVEN KNOW I WAS ARGUING AGAIN?!” The arctic wolf whines a pathetic, over-dramatic sound, setting his head onto the table with a bang.

The panicky sound of a vase shattering on the floor echoes throughout the halls, coupled with a string of angry, British curses. “OH, FOR FUCK’S SAKE, IF YOU’RE GOING TO YELL AT EACH OTHER, CAN YOU AT LEAST DO IT FACE-TO-FACE?!”

“... And now Arthur’s mad at us too. Way to go, bruder.”

“Wha- how is this  _ my _ fault?” Gilbert exclaims, “I was just responding to the fact that Roddy apparently has super low expectations for me! I mean, come on, West.  _ He yelled at me from across the mansion without fully knowing we were being dicks, just because he thinks I’m that much of a war-mongering idiot _ !”

“Wait, you mean you’re not?” I blink.

Ludwig sighs, “You do realize you’re only justifying his view of you by picking yet another fight, correct?”

He fixes his brother with a firm glower, before abruptly standing up, pushing his chair further away from the table. “Alright, nope, I’m done with this. I’m getting a beer.” Gilbert begins to walk off, then calls over his shoulder with a failingly-cool wink, “Later, loser; bye, Feli! The awesome me is out.”

* * *

All throughout dinner, Lovino glares at his food as he eats, shoving his meal into puffed-up cheeks before finished with what’s already in there. This doesn’t look like it’s going to end well. I don’t want fratello to be mad at people! I nervously shift my gaze to Ludwig’s. He minisculely shrugs in response, appearing just as uneasy as myself. Meanwhile, everyone else acts oblivious, conversing amongst themselves and pretending to not notice the dark aura gathering around my twin. Accidenti.

I slowly eat my pasta, nervously watching as fratello viciously jabs at his plate. The tension continues its gradual build, Lovino creating a steady rhythm of stab-shovel-chew, stab-shovel-chew, stab-shovel-chew. The utensil makes grating, scraping noises that caress the ear none-too-gently every time he forces more food from his dish, as my nerves spike, face twitching, expression wobbly-

“Oh, for crying out loud!” Before I have the chance to freak out, Arthur does so for me, fork and knife falling to his plate in short-lived clinks. “This is getting us nowhere! Yeah, sometimes we’re not  _ entirely _ honest with each other; so what? Nobody’s perfect! Everyone messes up! We’re all entitled to keeping secrets, so why is it such a big deal?!” He takes a deep, long-suffering breath before ordering with a stern glare, “Now, apologize.  _ Both of you _ .”

For a suffocating moment, they stare at each other. Then, Ludwig’s expression eases into its natural state of equanimity.

“I’m sorry,” He begins, “It was wrong of me to intervene like that. After all, you’re twins and have therefore known each other for far, far longer than me. Who am I to criticize actions regarding your brother simply because of our bond?” He stands, extended an arm towards the other. “Truce?”

Fratello gives the hand a hard look, but relents, “Fine, whatever. I don’t like you, but Feli does, so I guess I have to  _ try _ ,” He shakes the wolf’s hand robotically. “Truce.”

As they sit back down to finish eating, Toni claps a hand onto Lovino’s shoulder with a soft smile. “I’m proud of you, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” He seeths, aggressively stabbing at his plate once more to hide the blush quickly infecting his face. “I said I’d try, but I’m not making any promises, so don’t get your fucking hopes up!”

* * *

“Hey, Luddy, remember the time we fell off the roof and almost died?”

The wolf gives me a funny look, “Feli, that’s not a good thing. You really need to be more careful.”

I laugh, shifting my gaze back to the stars above. “What do you mean? That was a great memory! I mean, si, I fell off the roof, but I got some grade-A inspiration from that. Plus, you saved me and I got to feel your beefy biceps!” Another giggle escapes me, his blush so strong I can practically feel the heat of its burn.

“... I’m not quite sure how to respond to that.”

“You don’t have to,” I lay my hand flat against the cold shingles, spread invitingly at my side. “I’m just glad you let me come back up here at all after what happened last time.”

My smile grows as he takes the bait, fingers shyly interlocking with mine. “S-sure. It’s just, as long as I’m here with you, I’m certain you’ll be fine. Protecting you is my job now.”

“Yeah, you make a good point, but I have a better one.”

“Oh really?”

“Si! It’s okay for me to be up here now, because whenever you’re here, I feel super safe.” I beam, “You’re strong, smart, nice, you help me tie my shoelaces, and I know that you’ll definitely make sure I’m happy and healthy. I feel like I can just fly off into the clouds when I’m around you!”

“I don’t think ‘flying off into the clouds’ is a good thing.” He gives me a sideways glance.

I simply laugh and continue, “Ever since you came along, I’ve even been eating less junk food, because you keep lecturing about how bad it is for me-”

“... ‘Lecturing?’ Really?”

“-And you’ve also been acting sort of like a voice of reason, well besides Arthur, because let’s face it, he’s definitely the most sensible, oh, and did I mention you’re really handsome? Like, not just normal amounts of good-looking-ness, you’re really, really hunky, and even cousin Francis thinks you’re gorgeous, which I suppose doesn’t mean much, because Francis sees the inner beauty in everything - he’s just like that - but it’s a big deal to me, because it validates that I’m not the only one thinking you’re really, really attractive, and-”

“FELICIANO!”

I almost burst out laughing as he practically explodes from the intensity of his blush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahah... that last scene was put in purely for self-indulgent reasons. This chapter arc was the one I felt the most hesitant about, but now I'm slowly growing to like it. I feel like, on some level, this arc of near-murder & even tenser arguing than usual was necessary for the developing sense of respect between Ludwig & Lovino. Please note how I said 'developing sense of respect,' as opposed to 'developing relationship,' 'developing friendship,' or even 'developing fondness.' I'll have these two grow to respect each other, but, let's face it, no way in hell will Lovino ever grow to LIKE him.  
> Oh, & by the way, the main plot's going to come back sometime very, very soon, so be prepared. =3  
> See you tomorrow!


	20. 2.38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: None  
> Warnings: None

-2.38-

In Northern Ireland, a dark figure roams beneath the same stars. Cloaked all in black, the woman moves from shadow to shadow, avoiding twinkling street lamps. She looks warily at them, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Hazel Kirkland doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to the modern age and it’s new technology. Turning away from the strange contraption, she continues down the paved road. The last she was here, this boulevard was all dirt, and only a few shops laid nearby, as opposed to rows upon rows of buildings and cement.

She dreadfully misses the old days.

None the less, Hazel is determined to persevere. She had been asleep long enough, and from her own mixed-up potion no less! Honestly, how was she to know the recipe said ‘eye of toad,’ and not ‘eye of bat?’ She didn’t understand a lick of Latin then, nor now.

She inwardly groans, muttering ancient curses to herself. That potion was a bad idea from the start, and now she’s been trapped in a coma for, what, a thousand years? Something like that? Oh, whatever, the point is that now she’s awake, and with this development, Hazel has a lot of work to do. After all, it’s not like her monopoly on spells, charms, and the like is simply going to rebuild itself. However, even she’ll admit this checklist is long and difficult.

First of all, English has changed over time. Seeing as Hazel was asleep for all of that, she can barely translate her native tongue. This is probably one of the hardest things necessary for success, but progress is good. She’s even picked up a more modern accent! Next, lodging and business. In the month or so she’s been present, Hazel’s figured out how buying property works, to a certain extent, and has started a temporary job at the town’s library. No one expects the librarian to be a witch.

Hazel still has a lot to take care of, what with saving up to buy a nice shop, and still wanting a better home than the shitty motel she’s stuck in. Hopefully, she can buy one of those buildings with a shop on the first floor and an apartment on the second. That would be really nice, but it’ll probably cost a lot.

Well, at least she could still bring back her precious shadow wolves.

Hazel’s lips up turn in a small smile at the thought.  _ Yes, I love my pets _ .

The creation of the shadow wolves is by far her greatest achievement, and the sorceress had been delightfully surprised to find she could still summon them. And so, she’d summoned roughly a hundred or so. She might have gone a little overboard, but no matter; Hazel’s positive the extras have found something to amuse themselves, so who cares?

She gives a wistful sigh, picking up pace as her motel comes into view. She hurries to her room, softly shutting the door and turning to greet her lovely wolves.

“And hello to you too!” She laughs jovially as the darling creatures jump onto their hind legs, licking at her face and pinning her to the wall. She pets each and every one of those kept inside, addressing them by name.

“Hello, Gawain! Evening, Beo! How are you, Achilles?” Then, Hazel reaches the last two. She beams at their synchronized movements, “Pollux, Castor, I see you’re close as ever.”

After assuring her children of her well-being, Hazel heads to the mini fridge beneath the television set to pull out a box of leftover pizza. Herd of wolves following at her heels, she carries the box to her bed. She seats herself against the headboard, not before removing her black trench coat, all five shadow beings climbing up to huddle against her. A cheerful grin in place, she snatches the remote from her bedside table and turns on the TV, ready to engage in a marathon of  _ Britain’s Got Talent _ .

* * *

The next day, in the southern part of France, another Brit by blood wanders a mansion’s halls, gazing down at his clip-board. Arthur, rabbit spirit of the rich and powerful Francis Bonnefoy, is troubled. Things have been relatively peaceful thus far, but times are changing, and he’s worried that said changes won’t be good.

In his hands are a stack of papers detailing the strange events of the north. Now, Arthur’s always liked a good mystery,  _ Sherlock Holmes _ being one of his favorites, but this is just creepy. Two spirit animals, both gray wolves, left their communities to investigate an outbreak of enchanted wolves that appear to be made of shadows. Upon finding what are referred to as ‘shadow wolves,’ they were attacked, badly wounded, and chased very far away from home, only to be saved by a member of the Vargas line, whom they later bound themselves to.

Why would such similar events happen to entirely different people? Is it fate, simple coincidence, or something more sinister? This is what bothers the rabbit; how is Arthur to know what’s going on, when the truly important details were lost in translation?

Let’s start from the beginning. The first instance of such unusual circumstances was roughly a thousand or so years previous, when Italy had a monarch. According to legend, king Romulus was riding his horse in the woods one day, when he stumbled across a large gray wolf beaten bloody. Feeling pity for the poor creature, he took it home with him, where he slowly nurtured it back to health. One day, the wolf transformed before his eyes, having apparently been a spirit animal the whole time. In appreciation to the generosity and kindness showed to him, the spirit offered his services, binding him and the king together for life. This spirit was dubbed ‘Aldrich’ by king Romulus, seeing as spirit animals had not yet adopted the human practice of naming their young.

And then we have the second occurrence, the story of Feliciano and Ludwig. Feliciano Vargas, youngest of the family’s most recent generation, took a walk one day. Upon arriving at a nearby forest, he decided to stop and practice painting. After a good while, he rose from his place and began to roam about unfamiliar woods. Then, a shadow wolf appeared. It lunged at Feliciano, but before he could get hurt, a gray wolf killed it. This gray wolf was Ludwig. With his heart of gold, Feliciano noticed the other’s wounds and insisted he stayed at a certain Frenchman’s countryside manor until healed. For the next two weeks, Ludwig lived here, and just a few days ago, he bound himself to Feliciano.

Arthur has many different ideas as to how this could happen. Theory one: Ludwig is actually Aldrich, and serves Feliciano out of a sense of loyalty to the Vargas line. This can be easily disproven, seeing as Gilbert and Ludwig are brothers, meaning something as monumental as this would have popped up by now if it was true. Plus, historical documentation reveals that in king Romulus’s last moments, he and Aldrich killed each other, a scene that has been depicted and referenced in nothing short of a million pieces of dramatic literature, plays, and cinema. There’s no way Ludwig could be Aldrich.

Right?

Anyways, that possibility aside, another idea is that Ludwig is the reincarnation of Aldrich, and Feliciano of king Romulus. Or something like that. This does seem rather serendipitous; two spirit-human pairs, at least two of the four directed related, the other two being of the same species, both meeting and binding themselves in the same way… it’s simply too good to be true. This kind of thing happens in books, not real life!

Arthur growls to himself. This is getting ridiculous.

It’s not like the rabbit’s never had to deal with fantasy elements making a cameo in reality. After all, he’s secretly been able to see and communicate with mythical creatures all his life. No, the problem is that we’re approaching fate levels of existential messiness, and fourth wall breaks are where he draws the line, dammit!

He sighs wearily. This is getting exhausting.

It feels like he’s tearing at loose straws here, especially since no one knows what’s causing this. There’s no way such specific scenarios happening to nearly identical people can be mere coincidence! The very suggestion’s insane!

There are too many unknown factors here. Arthur’s been looking into this for the past week and a half, and he still hasn’t solved a single one of the multitude of questions piling up. The more he thinks about it, the more confused he becomes. He’s about ready to call it quits, throw in the towel,  _ give up _ .

He looks at the walls in dismay. Oh goodie, it seems he’s found himself in the old part of the manor. Surrounding him lays painting after painting of important Vargases, some even brought in from the original palace in Italy. At the head of the hallway, hung above an ancient door rests an oil of none other than king Romulus Vargas, cheeks puffed and eyes narrowed in a cheerful grin. Sometimes, it’s uncanny how much the twins resemble him.

“Oh god, it really is fate, isn’t it?” Arthur groans, hand connecting with face in a distinct smack.  _ Well, looks like there’s only one option left; I can’t be certain the hands of fate are to blame until I find this out. _

And so, Arthur, rabbit spirit of the rich and powerful Francis Bonnefoy, begins his secret mission: the quest to learn of the wolf brothers’ heritage. He can’t know for sure until there’s sufficient evidence of each parties being descended from people who went through this. He needs to prove Ludwig’s ancestor was Aldrich.

* * *

_ Okay, this is getting out of hand. They have no idea what they’re doing! _

_ So? How do we share business with the living? _

_ Wha- um- I mean- oh, come on! They’re family! We have to help them somehow! _

_ *sigh* This is a terrible idea, and you know it. _

_ Hey, guys! What are you two up to? _

_ Oh, hey. _

_ Hello. _

_ Ooo, you watching the living? What are they doing this time? _

_ Yeah, tell him we need to help! They’re in over their heads here! _

_ This is insane and he knows it. _

_ Er- wait, you’re not planning on doing what I think you are, right? _

_ Of course not! _

_ He absolutely is. _

_ Are you kidding me?! You remember what happened last time! _

_ Yeah, but we need to help them! How else are they going to stop her?! _

_ Stop who? _

_ Oh, hello. _

_ Bastet! You agree some divine intervention’s in order to stop a power-psycho witch from killing my descendants, right?! _

_ Wait, what? Since when was a ‘power-psycho witch’ part of the equation?! _

_ This witch is the whole reason we met in the first place. _

_ Wow, you guys are really fucked. _

_ That’s what I’ve been saying for centuries now; welcome to the family, in which nothing makes sense half the time! _

_ Hey! I make sense! _

_ I never said you didn’t! _

_ Gah, you people suck! I don’t know why I spend the afterlife with you! _

_ You are being irrational. _

_ No, you are! Why won’t you come with me to the mortal plane?! _

_ Because it is a bad idea, as I said earlier. _

_ He makes a good point you know. _

_ Wah, whose side are you on?! _

_ Not yours. _

_ Ha, burn! *laugh and the sound of two hands slapping* _

_ I think I am done here. _

_ Wha- but- ! _

_ I said no, and that is final. *fading footsteps* _

_ *groan* You guys’ll help me, right? _

_ *shaky laugh* Yeah, sorry Roma; you’re on your own for this one. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guess what? I wrote a chapter without any physical appearances from Feliciano or Ludwig. Be proud of me.  
> Also, I finally got my shit together & started posting chapters that are legitimately relevant to the main plot! Yay! =D  
> In case you can't tell, I'm trying to give the impression that everyone thinks Hazel (Britannia) is some power-hungry psychopath, when she's really not. This was basically the British chapter, in that the main focus was on Hazel & Arthur.  
> As for the Italics, there were four people in that conversation, so I want you guys to guess who! Hahah, yeah... I'll post the list of who was who in the next chapter's A/N. Why are they worried? Well, it's not really the fact that Arthur's looking into things so much as the whole 'HAZEL'S BACK' thing.  
> By the way, yes, Arthur & Hazel are related. This will come up in the next chapter, A. K. A. the part 2 finale!  
> See you tomorrow!


	21. 2.4 (Part 2 Finale)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Fruk, mentioned Gerita  
> Warnings: None, aside from the casualty of yet another vase

-2.4-

Arthur stands at his charge’s side in the manor’s office, hands shaking. He knows this is vital to his quest for knowledge, but that doesn’t make it any less difficult.

“Arthur? Mon lapin, are you alright?” He snaps back to attention at the questioning gaze coming from Francis’s seated form.

He sighs, “Oh, yes, I’m fi-” then stops.

_ What am I doing? I have to tell him! _

“Âllo,” The Frenchman waves a hand before his face, “Anyone in there?”

The spirit’s expression hardens. “Actually, no, I’m not alright. To be frank, I’m worried.”

“Worried?” A blond eyebrow elegantly curves downwards.

“Yes, worried.” Arthur walks around the desk, planting himself in the seat opposite. “Have you noticed anything… strange about Ludwig and Feliciano?”

He gives a light laugh, “Why, but of course; they haven’t made love yet!”

“Francis, this is serious.”

“In that case, I have no idea.”

“Well, don’t those two remind you of anyone? Anyone dead perhaps?”

The flighty romantic leans his head against a free hand, eyes searching the ceiling in ponderment for a time. Arthur can feel his blood go cold. Then, he begins, “Why?”

“... ‘Why?’”

“Oui, why are you asking? Have you been keeping secrets again? You know how well that went last time,” Francis took a sip of his wine, “I mean, if this has something to do with your ancestor the witch, then-”

He shot the human a flat-out scalding look, “We agreed never to speak of that. And no, this doesn’t concern her, at least as far as I know.”

“Then, mon cher, what is the problem? Ludwig and Feli are adorable together, and seem to be getting along quite swimmingly.”

Arthur heaves a mighty sigh, “It’s not their relationship I find disturbing; it’s how they met.  _ How they met _ , Francis.”

His head slightly tilts to the side, “What about it?”

The rabbit spirit throws his hands into the air, “Right after you and Feliciano had a talk about him getting a spirit animal, they met almost in the exact same way Romulus and Aldrich did! And, not to mention, they‘re just as close! Don’t you think that’s a little too good to be true?!”

“Arthur, it’s probably nothi-”

“ _ Don’t you ‘Arthur’ me _ ! Then we get to the shadow wolves!  _ Shadow wolves _ , just like great-whatever grand-mum Hazel used to make! Face it, Francis; there is nothing good or normal about this! Hazel’s quite possibly running amuck, or some sort of successor, there’s the chance of predestinational bullshit occurring between Feliciano and Ludwig, and everything is just maddening! The more I try to figure out what the bloody hell’s going on, the more confused I become; I’m just so sick of it…”

As the first sob wracks Arthur’s body, pale hands rubbing at green eyes, Francis’s gaze softens.

“I- I just- I’m scared, Francis. I’m  _ scared _ , because no one’s even thought about the shadow wolf thing going on in the north- and- and it’s  _ in the north _ , right smack in the middle of her territory. What if she’s back? What if something bad happens to us, or to innocent bystanders? I- I can’t let that happen, but it seems I’m the only one who noticed it in the first place! I’m a weak, expired rabbit spirit; I can’t stop a sorceress as powerful as her! Shit, I don’t even  _ have _ powers! I’m just an old, tired-out being with no magic besides what’s normal-” He breaks off in loud, almost drunken wails.

As his spirit continues to blubber on about being a failure to his line, and how everyone in his family but him inherited at least one magical ability, Francis looks on in uncertain tenderness. Hesitantly, he reaches across the desk and takes the other’s hand in his, gently pulling the appendage away from his face. He rubs and caresses for the next ten, twenty, thirty minutes, however long it takes for Arthur’s cries to die down, and his sniffles to all but evaporate, flushed and puffy.

“There, there, it’ll be alright.”

“Ho- how do you know?”

He shrugs, “I don’t; I’m just an optimist.”

Arthur blinks, then smiles and gives a short laugh, gaze averted to the side. “Heh, yeah, I suppose so.”

And so, as Francis passes his friend and long-time companion a box of tissues, they make a deal; they will not stop until fully certain of everyone’s well-being.

* * *

_ I, for one, think this is stupid. _

_ Annôn, you think all of my ideas are stupid! _

_ Yeah, because they are. _

_ Alright, alright, break it up you two! Fighting will only makes things worse, right? _

_ I think Vendela makes a good point! *munching* _

_ Do not speak with your mouth full. _

_ *swallowing* But I like apples! _

_ *groan* This is so not the point. We’re supposed to be talking about how great and amazing my plan is, not Beo eating and talking at the same time! _

_ He needs to learn proper manners. _

_ But I thought you didn’t like manners, because they’re ‘ridiculous, man-made excuses to yell at each other!’ _

_ *growl* _

_ Roma, I don’t think you should disagree with him on this. _

_ *loud, exasperated sigh* _

_ I say we should take a vote; it’s the fairest option! _

_ Eh, sounds good to me. _

_ *variants of ‘yes’* _

_ Okay, so everyone in favor of going to the world of the living to help fight some crazy shadow-witch, raise your hand. _

_ *pause* _

_ Wha- why not?! _

_ Well, that settles it. We’re not going! _

_ I told you it was a dumb idea. _

_ No, you said it was stupid! Which it isn’t! Come on, Aldrich, you agree with me, right?! _

_ I have been against this from the start. _

_ *frustrated noises* _

_ If you will excuse us, I think he needs to cool off for a bit. _

_ *struggling noises, then fading footsteps* _

* * *

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Mon cher, we can’t just keep something as potentially catastrophic as this a secret. It would be an injustice to us all!”

Arthur gives his charge a funny look. “Francis, I think you’re being a tad overdramatic.”

“Of course not!” He gasps indignantly, “I’m only stating the truth!”

“Whatever, truth or not we really shouldn’t let them in on this,” The rabbit sighs, “Knowing the others, they’ll probably get in the way like always.”

The human of the two looks at his companion flatly for but a moment before shouting, “Everyone! We have something important to tell you!”

A vase smashes upstairs, followed by a surprised yell of “Accidenti!”

“See? I told you so.”

“My vase! Why?!”

A pair of feet comes pounding down the stairs, and into the hallway to meet them. There stands Antonio, a flushed and cussing Italian across his shoulder.

“What? What’s wrong?!” His head goes this way and that, a certain alertness in his eyes that faintly reminds Arthur of events several centuries past.

The Frenchman laughs lightly, “At ease, Antoine; let’s go into the lounge and wait for the others, oui?”

Realizing the lack of evident danger, the fox relaxes and nods his affirment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus concludes part 2! *jazz hands* Next is the intermission, in which we find out what the actual fuck Aldrich & Romulus have been even doing for the past thousand years or so. Also, here's a list of, in order of entrance, the characters speaking in Italics in the previous chapter:  
> Romulus (Rome)  
> Aldrich (Germania)  
> Athena (Ancient Greece)  
> Bastet (Ancient Egypt)  
> & the title of the intermission: -Intermission: Crazy, Dead, Old Guys-  
> I'm going to let you all guess in the comments section who's talking in Italics in this chapter, & I'll see you tomorrow!


	22. Intermission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Rome x Germania, past Rome x Ancient Greece  
> Warnings: IMPLIED SMUT.

-Intermission: Crazy, Dead, Old Guys-

“Ugh,” I awoke with a groan, rubbing my throbbing skull.

_What the fuck even happened?_

I sleepily sat up, blinking my eyes open, only to pause in unnerved confusion.

_Whoa, that’s a lot of blank._

And, true to my thoughts, it was, a terrifyingly empty expanse of white infinitely expanding before me. It sort of resembled an unused piece of papyrus. Glancing to my left, I suddenly noticed something that wasn’t there before. Right on my forearm was an elegant marking of sweeping lines and curves, each stroke weaving together to depict an artist’s rendition of a wolf, obediently pointing in the direction of my head.

_Wait a second…_

I once more began to visually wander, this time more frantically as I searched for my stoic companion. I spotted him a few mere feet away, my equal in grogginess. He looked good for someone who just got stabbed in the gut, tumbling, blonde locks much neater than they’d been in those final hours, eyes less puffy. By far most notably, his wound was literally non-existent. Instead of blood, the area I’d sheathed my sword in was covered with part of a simple, green tunic. When he finally looked my way, his eyes went wide in shock. I blinked once, then gazed down at myself.

_Holy shit, I’m young again._

In death, I’d returned to the amazing and gorgeous state of my prime. This was _awesome_. In fact, this was so awesome that a devious grin made its way upon my face, and I tackled Aldrich to the ground. Without warning, I crushed my lips to his. He froze for but a moment, then pressed back at full force, our tongues and lips mashing together with no rhyme or reason, unknowing of whose appendage was touching what. My hands snaked up to his face and hair, gripping, caressing. I felt the warm trails of similar parts moving to hold my spine and the back of my head, keeping me against him. With another peck, I moved away with a soft smile.

“Te amo,” My amber orbs gazed lovingly into those of grass green. Aldrich didn’t say a single word, but from the look in his eyes as he guided my head back to his, it wasn’t very hard to figure his feelings on the matter.

As ironic as it may have been, I felt _alive_. It was as if, after all these years, I was finally where I was meant to be, my body moving with his in perfection synchronization. As I sucked on his bottom lip, I noticed his breath hitch and allowed myself a small smirk of self-satisfaction. While he was distracted, I carefully slipped my hands down, into his trousers, and onto his ass. He tensed and pushed me away.

“Romulus, what are you-“

“Aww, come on, Aldrich!” I interrupted, affectionately nuzzling his neck, “We’re dead; why not have a little fun?”

His face became endearingly warm beneath me, “W- Well, ja, I- I guess, but-“ His voice died down to an unexpected, yet adorable nonetheless, squeak.

And suddenly, it hit me.

“Wait, are you a virgin?”

He released a low, drawn-out, embarrassed sigh, “Yes, yes I am.”

 _Well, that explains a lot_ , I thought back to all of the times we’d been mere centimeters from kissing, only for Aldrich to freak out and run off. Take, for example, whenever I was in the same room as a bottle of alcohol.

“But… we’re still going to fuck, right?” I looked up at him with big, purposely-inconspicuous eyes, batting them as if I wasn’t touching the butt.

He stared at me for one silent, intense moment, before averting his gaze elsewhere and relenting a short nod. Encouraged, I began gently nibbling his neck...

* * *

 

I wrapped my arms around his neck, lazily dragging him closer to me, “Shit, that was great.”

He returned the embrace with a small kiss to the lips, “I am glad you think so.”

“So, we’re going with the whips next time, right?”

“ _What_?!”

“I’m assuming that’s a no. How about collars? Handcuffs, rope, knives?” As I continued down the list, Aldrich grew paler and paler.

“You humans seriously do that to your mates?” He breathed out with a terrified expression.

No longer able to keep it in, I released a bout of hysterical laughter, the noise coming out even harder at the confused look on his face, “No, n- not really,” I took in a few deep breaths to calm myself as he quickly morphed to cold irritation. “Most people at least.”

“Wait, _most_? So some of you really do that?! What is wrong with your species?!”

“Nothing!” I grinned at him, “I mean, if someone as perfect as me can exist while being human, then obviously my species is just as great as I am!”

I gently kissed the base of his neck, then glanced to where I’d left a large welt previously, only to find- “Hey, where’d the hickey go?!”

He blinked, “The what?”

I moved closer to the now flawless stretch of skin where I’d marked him, “The hickey! I gave you a hickey earlier and now it’s gone! What the hell?!”

“You had given me a hickey in the first place?!”

“Yeah! Right dab in the middle of your neck!” I groaned and flopped back onto him, “Damn, as soon as I’m able to give you hickeys, I can’t because of stupid afterlife stuff. And I was really looking forward to seeing you try to hide it!”

He sighed, “You know what? I give up.”

“On what?”

“On you, humanity, other spirits, the planet, basically _everything_. From here on out, I’m going to enjoy my eternal rest in peace and serenity.”

I snickered, “Of course you are.”

“Yes, I am… or I at least _hope_ I am,” He hummed tiredly, “By the way, what about Athena?”

I froze for a moment, blush darkened, an awkward laugh spilling from my lips, “Hahahaha, I really hope she’s not too mad I only saw her as a sister. Near the end of her life, I was completely convinced ‘Thena loved me in, well, _that_ way. I was bent up about it for a really long time after, feeling guilty for not returning her obvious feelings. I mean, yeah, I loved her, but not in the way a husband ought to. Honestly, I’ve kind of been in love with you since shortly after we magically bound ourselves together.”

Aldrich held me tighter at this and I noticed a nice blotch of color making its presence across his cheeks, “I- I-“ The rest of his sentence was incomprehensible, fading away to senseless noises.

I giggled lightly, “Aldrich, you need to enunciate your words. I couldn’t understand a thing you said!”

He made an aggravated sound then repeated, “I- I love you too.”

I gave him a peck on the cheek, “Love you!”

And, in the wonderful bliss of post-sex and a reciprocated love confession, we laid there for as long as possible, basking in our shared contentment.

* * *

 

“Romulus!” I inwardly cringed. _Well, it’s now or never!_

“Hey, Athena!” I plastered a false grin upon my face and turned to receive her hug.

“It’s truly been too long; you had me worried I’d _never_ find you!” She smiled into my shoulder, then looked up. “Oh, Aldrich! I didn’t expect to see you up here.”

He gave a curt nod of acknowledgement, “Queen Athena.”

She released me from her hold, “Oh, please, enough with the formalities. In the afterlife, I’m not royalty anymore; we’re equals. But I didn’t think spirits _could_ die?” At this, she pointedly looked to me, “Really, Roma, what did you do this time?”

I mussed the hair on the back of my head, “Uh, nothing? I mean, nothing we weren’t both okay with, right Aldrich?”

He simply nodded once more.

She blinked, “Oh, okay. But what happened? I’m afraid I still don’t understand what you two did to kill an ethereal being.”

My eyes met his, and a silent conversation took place through our facial expressions.

_Are you going to tell her or do I have to?_

_I am not doing it. You have dug your own grave on this one._

_You suck._

_I suck what? Your human expressions make no sense to me._

_You- GAH, you just suck!_

I heaved a mighty sigh, turning back to Athena, “Aldrich and I are in love.”

“YOU’RE WHAT?!” Her eyes went wide in outrage, then narrowed to slits, “How long has this been going on?”

“U-um, well, I’m not really sure how long it’s been for him, but I- I’ve kind of liked him since before we-,” I gestured between her and myself, “-became a thing.”

“So it’s been over forty years.” Her hands firmly planted themselves upon her hips, flames rising in sky blue eyes. “It’s been over forty years of you two hopelessly pining after each other behind my back.”

I hesitantly nodded my affirmative, “Y- yeah.”

“And all this time, you could have easily hooked up already!” She whacked me upside the head, “Honestly, what the hell is wrong with you two?! Do you not understand how flat-out _stupid_ it is to love from a distance?! I mean, _it’s about time_!”

“Wait, what?!” I gave her a strange look.

“I knew it! I knew it all along, and you _morons_ were just too blinded by your own self-pity and denial to realize it for yourselves! I mean, do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this thing to set sail already?! And yet, you didn’t get together until you were _dead_ ! Just- I- GAH! You are _such idiots_! Now I owe Bastet twenty gold!” She threw her hands to the air in exasperation.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute. You were making bets on when Aldrich and I would confess our undying love?!”

She began walking away, subtle sway of the hip and all, but stopped to toss over her shoulder, “Roma, dearest, I only see you as a brother,” And like that she disappeared into the fog of the afterlife.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you humans?” Aldrich asked with a straight face.

I could only think to respond with one word, “Everything.”

* * *

 

Bastet, as it turned out, was the spirit of a lovely noblewoman from a Roman territory to the south. I was quite puzzled when I first heard this; after all, she was referred to with quite an uncommon name.

In response, she gave a shrug of the shoulders with a nonchalant remark of, “Apparently Gods don’t exist, so I might as well.” And I guess I had to agree with her on that. ‘Nefertari’ was decidedly longer than ‘Bastet,’ and while she was certainly gorgeous enough to call herself a name meaning ‘most beautiful,’ there’d probably been more than a fair amount of royals named as such in the past.

“In life, no one dared give their child the exact name of a God, meaning we ended up with a lot of ‘Ramses,’ ‘Nefertari,’ and ‘Cleopatra,’” Golden eyes rolled in exasperation, only to turn sly but a moment later, “And yet, now that we’re dead, who cares if I name to myself after the Goddess of cats? What reason has anyone to stop me?”

Athena laughed wistfully, her eyes holding a distant look, “Don’t you think it’s funny that after all these years of wondering, all the theories created by humanity to describe the afterlife, the whole place is just an endless stretch of fragmented memories?”

Contrasting with her friend’s meaningful tone, Bastet released a devious cackle, “Right! The living won’t know what hit them!”

“No, that’s not what I’m talking about!” She glared. “I mean, it’s kind of ironic, for you to call yourself after a Goddess, because in a few centuries, we will be. Future generations will look back on our accomplishments, our faults, our love, and they’ll take inspiration from it. They’ll see what we did wrong, and be sure not to make our mistakes. That’s why the deities we created didn’t actually exist; in due time, we’ll be their Gods!”

I placed a good-natured hand on her shoulder, “’Thena, you’re being crazy again. You know no one understands a thing you’re saying when you get like this.”

She frowned angrily, but remained silent.

“Anyways!” I grinned, holding a hand out for the southern woman to shake, “I’m Romulus Vargas, Athena’s ex!”

Taking my offer, she raised a painted brow. “That reminds me, is it true you finally acted on all that sexual tension between you and Mister Germanic Hunk?”

As Aldrich’s face reddened, my lips spread even further. “Yup! I’m sure you’ll learn all about it. Right, honey?” My smile turned to glimmer at the stony wolf.

Bastet perked up curiously, realizing his existence. “Oh, you must be him. It’s Aldrich, right?”

I giggled, “You okay in there?”

“… Do we really have to talk about our sex life right now?”

“Yeah, by the way, I’m still mad about you two literally having to die to get together,” Athena snapped, giving only me a nasty look. “Really, Romulus, I expected better from you!”

Bastet laughed, “Romulus, Aldrich, do what you want. I think it was perfectly fine for you to take things slowly.”

“Because you got my money!”

“Yes, that’s kind of the point of making a bet, Athena: someone gets the other’s money.”

As the two began bickering, I slipped away to stand beside the wolf spirit of the group.

Leaning in, I almost muttered, “You want to sneak off?”

“It depends. What would we do?”

My lips spread in a wolfish smile, “Guess.”

He stared for a moment, then released a long-suffering sigh. “Alright, fine.”

“I mean, geez Bastet, you don’t have to be so cruel! Right, Romulus- Hey, wait a second!” Athena exclaimed as we ran off, me laughing loudly and Aldrich looking behind at the ladies worriedly.

“Romulus, I swear, when I find you-!”

“Later, ‘Thena!”

“ROMULUS!”

* * *

 

“So, what do you think this thing is, anyways?” I blinked up at my ex-wife, arm extended to reveal the wolf marking.

She momentarily paused in stroking my hair. “You said you woke up with it, right?”

I nodded vigorously, “Yeah, everything went dark, then I ended up in the afterlife, then I looked down and saw this on my arm. Any idea?”

“I think I might,” Athena hummed thoughtfully, bright eyes closed in recollection, “Did you know it’s a tradition now for humans to bind themselves to spirits? I guess it’s a kind of memorial, something to preserve your and Aldrich’s memory.”

“Huh, I didn’t know that!”

She flicked my forehead. “Don’t interrupt. As I was saying, a lot of the newer deceased have ended up with similar images on some part of their body, only the picture is whatever animal they were bound to. In case you haven’t noticed, neither Bastet nor myself have any weird drawings, and we weren’t magically bound to anything. I believe it has something to do with the connection between a human and a spirit.”

My face scrunched at the center, “Alright, but what does it do? Is it just supposed to sit there and look sexy, or what?”

The Greek merely shrugged. “Eh, hell if I know; it could spit rainbows as far as we’re concerned!”

“Rainbows?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Rainbows.” She said earnestly, an intense look decorating her face. Both of us burst out laughing a moment later.

The rest of our time together was spent joking around between snide, only half-serious remarks.

* * *

 

Time went by. After acquainting ourselves with Athena and Bastet, our group only grew. It now included two more people: an ancient Carthaginian, Annôn, and an Iberian fox spirit, Vendela. Ever since the moment they laid eyes on each other, Romulus hated Annôn with a burning passion. This could have been because of the Punic wars, their clashing personalities, the fact that Athena was quite fond of the Carthaginian, or any number of other things. Due to the bitter feelings between them, if they ever came within six meters of each other, a fight would break out, normally over something rather stupid. Honestly, I couldn’t have cared less for him. That statement could be interpreted as referring to either Romulus or Annôn; I’ll just leave it to your imagination.

Meanwhile, Vendela was nice enough, always trying to diffuse various conflicts. As the only spirit animals and quote-unquote ‘barbarians’ in our usual group of friends, we ended up spending far more time together than I originally thought. She was very bright and cheery, practically lighting up the room with her smile, yet, at the same time, there was a motherly atmosphere about her. I suppose that was why I was so willing to go to her if I needed advice, much like how Romulus would talk to Athena.

As for the marking on Romulus’s arm, we asked around, and it turned all humans bound to spirits had one. And apparently they got crazy superpowers as well. Yeah, there was a reason I didn’t allow Romulus to attempt blowing things up with his mind. In fact, I was in the process of convincing him out of this when two more people showed up.

“Aww, come on, Aldrich!” He whined, “I want to set it on fire!”

I gave him a stern glare. “No, I refuse to sit back and let you completely destroy the afterlife. Do not even think of it. _Literally_.”

“But Aldri-”

“Bror?”

My eyes gradually widened at two figures standing a ways behind him. They appeared to have been walking, but ceased as soon as the smaller stopped moving, lavender eyes locked with mine of green. In confusion, Romulus had started saying something, then turned to follow my gaze, carefully stepping aside.

“Bruder?” It came out as but a breath, nearly a whisper.

“Bror?” He said again, louder, boot-clad feet beginning to move.

“Bruder!” I exclaimed, both of us rushing towards each other.

“Bror!” My little brother yelled, a grin present.

“Bruder!”

“Bror!” His expression darkened, morphing into one of anger.

“Bruder?” I slowed.

“Bror!” With a mighty cry, he picked up pace, arm raised, hand clenched in a fist.

* * *

 

I watched, mouth agape as some kid ran up to Aldrich and punched him in the face.

“Ow, what the fuck?!”

“Bror, you stupid idiot!”

The snowy-haired ghost continued repeatedly smacking the wolf, hitting Aldrich’s arms with small, balled-up hands. The second newcomer approached them, attempting to pry the shorter away. Then, I noticed their uncanny similarities.

All three had the fair skin and hair common amongst northern people, each with cool-colored eyes.

“Hey, wait a moment, are you Aldrich’s little brothers?”

Simultaneously, they all turned to me, frozen in place.

The one who’d been trying to keep the smallest from causing Aldrich an untimely second death leaned towards my spirit animal and whispered, “Who’s that?”

“His hair looks weird.”

“What’s with that accent?”

“Why’s his skin that shade?”

“You do realize he is still standing there and can hear you perfectly fine, correct?”

They both formed ‘o’s with their mouths and backed away, giving the only one who knew what was going on some space. Aldrich cleared his throat, and the longest game of twenty questions in the history of the universe began.

* * *

 

“Whoa, you really served a king?” I allowed a small smile to stretch my lips as my youngest brother bounced up and down excitedly from his place on the floor.

Romulus took the chance to exclaim, “Yeah, he was the best! All the other nobles were super jealous that I had such a great body guard while they were stuck with mere humans!”

“Yes, I did. Worst years of my life.” I threw a playful smirk at the now-fuming former monarch.

“Wait, you were the king?!” He gasped.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I was the greatest king ever.” The Roman grinned flashily, “Right, Aldrich?”

I shrugged, “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“Wha- hey! Why do you have to be so mean?!”

“Simple: now that we are dead, I can say things like that without the threat of execution looming over my head.”

“Fine, then you’re sleeping on the couch!”

“Really? Are we really re-enacting the trope of the husband in an old married couple being forced to sleep on the couch? Is that what we are doing?”

To my amusement, he then went on to produce a series of frustrated noises, my brothers exchanging confused and uncertain looks.

The middle spoke up, “Hey, brother, why’s it that this guy keeps calling you ‘Aldrich?’”

“Hm,” I thought for a moment. “I suppose this has not made it up north yet. Since Romulus and I’s death, many humans began binding themselves to spirits like we did. A side-effect of this is that spirit animals have started using the human construct known as ‘names.’ These are essentially things humans use to identify one another, since they live in such large groups. The name Romulus chose for me is ‘Aldrich.’”

The youngest’s eyes practically sparkled, “Bror, I want a name too! Give me a name!”

I sighed, “Alright, alright, be patient; you cannot just ask that of me and expect an immediate answer.”

“Oo, can I help?”

“No,” I glared.

“But Aldrich, I picked out your name! Why can’t I help pick out theirs?”

“Because I said so. They are my brothers, not yours.”

“Aldrich, I don’t have any brothers!”

“Exactly.”

“Um, hey, bror?” My attention shifted. “You know, I really don’t mind if Romulus picks out my name.”

I looked back and forth between the two. “Fine, but nothing inappropriate.”

“Beo and Garen.” Romulus pointed to the youngest first, then the middle.

“Wha- you spent next to nothing on that, yet you took at least ten minutes on mine?!”

He grinned. “I thought about it while we were arguing.”

My hand met my face in a strange semblance of holy matrimony, “Of course you did.”

“... _Beo_?” The youngest breathed.

I looked at him, “Do you not like it? We can choose another-” Then froze at his expression. He was nearly _glowing_.

Slowly, a bright smile spread across his face, “I love it! Beo! What do you think, _Garen_? Isn’t this great?!”

“Eh, I don’t actually care to be honest.” He shrugged.

“Oh man, this is just the best! You two are the best!” Beo sprung from his spot on the floor and lunged at us, pulling Romulus and I into a nearly crushing hug.

“This is the best thing ever!”

* * *

 

“Aldrich, Aldrich, look at my grandchildren!”

I grinned, pulling the wolf over. “Aren’t they just the cutest? Aww, look! Feli has my eyes! And Lovi looks just like me otherwise! That’s so adorable!”

As we’d quickly found out, the spirits of the dead could omnipotently watch their loved ones run amuck from the afterlife. Of course, upon gleaning this from one of his ancestors, a rather eccentric man by the name of Julius, Romulus began to spend a good seven to eight hours a day proclaiming the greatness of his descendants. In kind, I kept a close eye on both my grand nieces and nephews and my lover’s grandchildren alike, quietly allowing a small smile at their achievements, a frown at their failures. However, with all of Romulus’s commentary on their lives, and all of my precise surveillance, neither of us could have predicted this.

The former king blinked once, twice, then a third. “They’re… bound? Like us?”

I stood still at the scene laid out before us, Ludwig carefully lifting Feliciano into his arms and making to leave the woods. I couldn’t believe this. They were just like us. It was sort of uncanny, the parallels. Before I had any longer to dwell on this-

“IT’S LIKE FATE!” Romulus launched himself at me, arms around my neck in a nearly suffocating embrace. “GAHH, I KNEW WE WERE PERFECT FOR EACH OTHER, AND THIS JUST AFFIRMS IT. IT’S NO WONDER THEY’RE SO AMAZING; THEY’RE LIKE YOUNGER VERSIONS OF US! I MEAN, FELICIANO HAS MY CHARM, WIT, GOOD LOOKS, KILLER SMILE-”

“Romulus, I can’t breath!”

“Oh, sorry!” He loosened his vice-like hold, but didn’t let go. “It- it’s just- it’s so _perfect_!” He smushed his cheek against my face and neck, his tone reverent, “We truly are the epitome of romance!”

I gave him a flat look. “Romulus, no. I thought you were above that.”

“It’s like it’s-”

“No.”

“It’s- it’s almost like-”

“Romulus, _no_.”

“It’s like-”

“I swear, if you finish that sentence-”

“- _Serendipity_.” He breathed. As I’d been tackled to the floor in his excitement, burning, amber eyes gazed into mine lovingly, a soft upward tilt to his mouth.

Was it just me, or were those beautiful, shining suns and that gracious smile coming closer? Oh, what did it matter? My eyes fluttered shut as he drew near and pressed himself against me, our bodies meeting in a moment of utter bliss. I gently parted my lips, tongue seeking out his, mingling and caressing, simply enjoying the sensation of being together, the love of my life and beyond in my arms, no one interrupting with their stupid shenanigans-

“What is this, makeout rock?” A crass voice broke through the sounds of shared breath, completely killing the moment.

I growled at the ghost, eyes narrowed, Romulus tense on top of me.

“What do you want, Annôn?” He groaned out. “I was going to get laid, you know!”

He sneered, “Yeah, well, there are way more important things to do than some Germanic wolf spirit, _you know_.”

“For your information-”

“I do _not_ bottom.”

“Aldrich! You weren’t supposed to tell him that!” Romulus flushed violently.

“Well it’s true,” I replied frankly, “Listen, Annôn, this is getting ridiculous. I understand that you and Romulus hate each other, but your feud is not sufficient enough reason to be so hostile on a daily basis. Save it for later.”

The Carthaginian looked at me for a time, dark brown eyes dark and angry. “ _Fine_.” He spat, turning on his heel, “But this isn’t over.”

And we watched as he stalked off to bother someone else.

* * *

 

Romulus was troubled. This much was obvious from the wrinkled spot between his brows, the squint of his eyes, and the way his whole face seemed crunched and thoughtful. It wasn’t normal for the former king to think this hard.

“Are you alright?” He jolted as I placed a hand on his shoulder, head whipping towards me with a shout.

He half-heartedly punched my arm. “Geez, don’t sneak up on me like that! I swear, it’s like you’re trying to off me a second time or something.”

I snorted, “Really? Oh, what is it humans say these days? ‘Been there, done that?’”

He stared for a moment, then gave a bark of laughter, “Oh God, don’t use slang, okay?”

“Whatever,” My eyes rolled gently, a content smile secretly on my lips, “So what is wrong?”

He blinked. “Wrong? What do you mean?”

I elbowed him, “Do not lie to me; I know you better than that.”

He sighed, watching as Feliciano gleefully cheered that he slept with Ludwig, on live television no less, Lovino nearly fainting backstage. “I’ve just been thinking about- you know- _this_.”

I merely raised an eyebrow, prompting continuation.

“Okay, so you know how Ludwig and Feliciano met in almost the same way we did? Shadow wolves and everything?” Romulus explaining something was a novel event, his hands moving this way and that expressively, a quirk his beloved grandchildren had inherited.

I nodded, “Yes, and?”

“Well, does anything about that seem kind of… off to you?”

“Eh, not really.” My shoulders slid up and down in a shrug, “With our family, it only makes sense something as clichéd as this would occur.”

“No, no, it’s not the fate thing I’m worried about; it’s the black magic thing. What do you think caused the shadow wolves to all of a sudden return?”

My eyebrows scrunched together. “That actually is troubling. I have no idea.”

And so, the rest of our evening was spent scrolling through scenes from the mortal plane. This didn’t look good.

* * *

 

“I’m telling you, this is not going to end well!” I stood before the others, hands gesturing madly in the air as I detailed Aldrich and I’s discovery, “We _have_ to; they’re family, for crying out loud!”

“Your family,” Annôn muttered. Aldrich shot him a glare and a growl, silencing his interruptions for the moment.

Athena sighed, “Roma, listen, I know you’re very passionate when it comes to helping your living relatives, but this is where I draw the line. You are not going to go down there to give them advice and assistance, and that’s that. We had a vote on it and everything!”

“She’s right, Romulus.” The younger of the wolves cut in, “As much as it pains me that any descendants of mine might just have to deal with ol’ witch hazel, I’m afraid to say getting turned into a toad isn’t covered by my insurance agency.”

I glowered, “Garen, you don’t have insurance; you’re dead!”

“Still not covered,” and then he stalked off, a devious laugh trailing behind.

“Yeah, sorry, but I’m going to have to take a pass on this one.” Bastet left next.

After that, everyone gradually filed out of the area, giving a variety of ‘no’s. In the end, everyone was gone, everyone but Aldrich.

I turned to him with a pout. “You’ll come with, right?”

He froze. “Um…”

“ _Aldrich_.”

* * *

 

And so, twenty minutes later, I found myself at Romulus’s side, looking down at the world below through a person-sized hole, wind whipping wildly about, loud enough you had to yell to hear what the other was saying. I couldn’t believe he convinced me to do this.

“Romulus…”

“Oh, come on, Aldrich! Don’t tell me you’ve never wanted to meet your descendants, face-to-face instead of watching them via magic mirror-thing!” He grinned.

I gripped his hand, “I do not like this.”

He laughed, “Aww, what, you scared of a million-meter fall? Chicken!”

“I am a _wolf_ ,” I couldn’t resist the growl tumbling out.

“Yeah, a wolf with his tail between his legs.”

Eyes narrowed, hair on edge, I aggressively pulled the other towards me, and with my beloved in my arms, I jumped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus concludes the intermission, A. K. A. the longest chapter yet. Just so you know, this would have been much, much longer if I'd written in every single time they fucked. Hell, we would have been here forever if I'd done that! I mean, these two just kind of hung out in the afterlife for roughly a thousand years or so, which is a lot of free time for them, meaning they probably had a lot of sex, knowing Romulus. Oh, & speaking of that, here are the Italics-speaking characters from the previous chapter, in order of when they spoke: Annon (Carthage), Romulus (Rome), Vendela (Iberia), Beo (Scandinavia), Aldrich (Germania), Athena (Ancient Greece), & Bastet (Ancient Egypt).  
> And now for the ludicrous list of ancients in this AU:  
> Rome: Romulus, named for the according-to-legend founder of Rome, a deceased king, died in old age  
> Germania: Aldrich, a deceased gray wolf spirit, died from a stab wound  
> Ancient Greece: Athena, named for the Ancient Greek goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, a deceased queen, died from sickness  
> Ancient Egypt: Bastet, named for the Ancient Egyptian goddess of cats and regality, originally named Nefertari in this AU, a deceased noblewoman, died from an assassination plot  
> Carthage: Annôn, a deceased soldier from Hannibal's army, died in battle  
> Iberia: Vendela, named for a kind of white rose, a deceased red fox spirit, died in a turf war with some other spirits  
> Gaul: Garen, a deceased gray wolf spirit, died from being attacked by a very brutal, very territorial community of bears  
> Scandinavia: Beo, named in reference to Beowulf, 'beo' meaning 'bee,' a deceased arctic wolf spirit, died from trying and failing to avenge Garen  
> Britannia: Hazel, named for a kind of tree and the greenish-brown color, a still living witch who's been in a coma for the past thousand years or so  
> And those are all of the ancients, as copied-and-pasted from an A/N on the fanfiction.net posting of this fanfic! It's kind of crazy how many there are. XP  
> Anyways, tomorrow's chapter will be the first of part 3, in which the main plot will finally be relevant. Meanwhile, you guys do realize I like to interact with my readers, right? Like, I greatly enjoy actually talking to my audience, and I would love it if this could be more of a thing over on AO3, since I do it so often back on fanfiction.net. Just saying.  
> See you tomorrow!


	23. 3.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, Fruk, and Spamano  
> Warnings: Mild/mentioned violence

-Part 3: The Return of Romulus Vargas-

-3.1-

I hold Luddy’s hand, kicking my legs back and forth and humming softly. After I accidently broke one of cousin Francis’s nice vases, Ludwig, myself, and everyone else in the house had gathered in the casual lounge, where we now sit. Arthur, who’s been nervously clutching at his tea cup for the past five minutes or so, gently sets it down on the coffee table before him and clears his throat.

“There’s something I’ve been keeping from you all.”

Next to me, Ludwig raises an eyebrow as we give the rabbit confused, worry-twinged looks.

“It’s about my ancestor-” He cuts himself off. “Wait, let me start from the beginning.

“Once upon a time, a gray wolf spirit later named Aldrich traveled to the British isles to investigate reports of strange goings-on.”

Gilbert groans, the sound nearly matching a growl, “For crying out loud, Artie, we already know this story!”

“Would you let me finish?” Arthur glares, the arctic wolf crossing his arms over his  chest with a huff.

“Anyways, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, the spirit animal Aldrich went to the British isles to look into some unnatural occurrences. At some point, he found out that a witch was the cause of all the shadow wolves popping up. She attacked him, then sent a horde of shadow wolves on his trail, chasing the wolf all the way to Italy, where he met Romulus Vargas, and you know the rest.” He took a deep breath, eyes uncertain. “T-that witch, that witch was my ancestor, Hazel Kirkland.”

As Arthur’s words echo off the walls, reverberating in our ears, fratello gives a loud shout of “DIRTY VOODOO BASTARD!”and mass chaos ensues.

* * *

“Ah, goddamn Francis, did you really have to hit right on the eye?” Gilbert whines pathetically from his sprawled position on the couch, “You know that’s where West punched me! I’m tender.”

“Gil, that was, like,  _ two weeks ago _ .” The blond replies in turn, sitting on the floor in front of him, leaning against the item of furniture. “Besides, what was I supposed to do? You were going for my beautiful face!”

“So you had to fuck up mine?!”

“Yes!”

I look between the two, “Why do I get the feeling this conversation happened already?”

“Ve, it probably has,” Feliciano laughs lightly, cradling himself against my chest.

“Yeah, we tend to repeat content a lot,” Interjects Lovino as he bandages Antonio’s side. Who knew a mere rabbit could leave a bite wound the size of my forearm?

Arthur sighs, “Ridiculous. Why is it that whenever we’re all in the same room,  _ this _ happens?”

Roderich continues to silently fume at the arctic wolf as he responds with a flippant, “I have no idea.” Apparently, Antonio remains cheerful when his side was torn apart by a potentially rabid Arthur, yet Roderich gets pissy when Gilbert only slightly mussed his hair.

“Regardless, there  _ was _ a reason for me bringing this up, you know.” The rabbit spirit of the group continues.

“What, you mean besides fucking  _ telling _ people when you have the blood of a psychotic shadow witch coursing through your veins?!” Lovino snaps, “‘Cause that seems like a pretty damn good reason!”

Arthur glowers, “Yes, besides that. Honestly, I never wanted you all to find out in the first place, and on top of that, it wasn’t like I was born with any magic anyways, so who cared?”

Gilbert hurriedly sits up, a wide grin present, laughter tumbling out from behind pointed fangs, “Wait, wait, let me guess. You’re the only one in your family without magic, right? Holy shit, that’s hilarious!”

“Shut up, you bloody git!” Arthur’s face turns a bright shade of red, “I get along perfectly fine without any cool powers, mind you; hard work and determination can be just as good sometimes!”

“Gil, knock it off.” I sigh in a deadpanned tone. My brother’s simply too much for his own good.

Francis smacks his leg, “Yeah Gil, knock it off.”

“Pfft,” He snickers, “What a wuss, Francis. Lutz punches me in the face if I act out, and you just slap me like a little girly-girl.”

“Wha- a wuss? Me?!” The Frenchman exclaims, smacking Gilbert harder. “I’ll show you a wuss! I can be strong!”

“Oh, for the love of-” Arthur begins before cutting himself off, “WOULD YOU SHUT UP?! Bloody hell, you people are insane!”

“Funny,” I comment, “That’s what I’ve been thinking since I first got here.”

Feliciano slightly panics from his place on my lap, “Wahh, Luddy, you don’t think I’m crazy, do you?!”

I stare at him for a good, hard moment. “I’m not making any promises. Although, if it makes you feel better, I’m probably insane for choosing to stay.”

“Yay! We’re nut-house buddies!”

“Goddammit Feli, would you stop hugging that potato-sucking bastard right in front of me?!” Lovino complains loudly.

At this point, Antonio draws him nearer with a hush. “Quiet now, tomate.”

“FUCKING TOMATO-OBSESSED BASTARD, STOP COMPARING ME TO FRUIT!”

“But Lovi, I didn’t! This time, I didn’t say you were  _ like _ a tomato; I said you  _ were _ a tomato, and who doesn’t want to be a tomato?”

“ _ WHAT THE HELL IS THE DIFFERENCE _ ?!”

* * *

And so, roughly twenty minutes later, we seat ourselves in the dining room, having completely destroyed the casual lounge between our big fight over Arthur’s lineage and keeping fratello from making good on his threat to strangle Toni. Suffice it to say, the never-really-seen servants of the manor truly have their work cut out for them. I hold Luddy’s arm as close as possible, practically sitting in his lap as Arthur explains the reason for his bubbling nerves.

“-So, the thing is, if there are really shadow wolves running around, what does that mean? I’ll tell you what that means: that means my ancestor’s back, either that or a successor of some sort. Either way’s terrible, because that means many, many people could get hurt, or possibly  _ killed _ , and it’ll all be  _ our _ faults if that happens, because we’re the only ones who know the full story, and even then, we know  _ practically nothing _ , and-”

As the rabbit spirit begins his tirade, cousin Francis swiftly sneaks behind him, wrapping one arm around his waist, the other gently placed over his mouth, “Arthur, mon cher, I think we get the point.”

He quickly jabs the Frenchmen in the side with an elbow, angrily crying out, “YOU BLOODY FROG, DON’T DO THAT!”

“Mon lapin, that hurt!”

“SERVES YOU RIGHT!”

Their fight is short-lived, as Ludwig coughs loudly and abruptly to get their attention, the pair’s heads whipping towards him.

“What?” They snap, irritable snarls paralleling one another.

The gray wolf’s face is purposefully hard as he continues, “As amusing as it may be to some, now’s not the time to argue like an old married couple.”

Arthur’s jaw goes slack, “Wha- WE’RE NOT LIKE THAT!”

“Arthur, please.” Francis covers the rabbit spirit’s mouth once more, addressing the younger of the wolf brothers. “You were saying?”

He nods, “Thank you.” Ice blue eyes scan the room. “The bad news is we don’t have the full picture. However, the good news is we have a rough idea of where to start digging for information. Remember, you’re  _ Vargases _ ; nearly anyone would bend over backwards to please you. This means that we can easily get access to any resources we may or may not need. It really shouldn’t be that hard to investigate, then come up with a plan to stop whatever’s happening.”

Several sounds of agreement arise from the others, all except for me. I look at my spirit animal, eyes wide, a grin tight across my face, and tackle him in a hug.

“Luddy, that’s so smart! I mean, sure, you’re normally really smart, but this is super, duper smart; like, I couldn’t have come up with this myself!” I nuzzle my face against his, “Gahh, I love your brain!”

“DAMMIT, I LOOK AWAY FOR ONE MINUTE AND THIS HAPPENS- FUCKING POTATO, GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!”

Antonio suddenly becomes aware of his surroundings and lifts fratello into his arms, laughing at my twin’s protests. “Okay Lovi, time for a siesta!”

Red-faced, the fox’s captive charge yells, “PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN  _ NOW _ , YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!”

“Nope!”

And the two waltz off, one screaming bloody murder while the other responds to the passionately-given death threats with a jovial grin.

“Well, that happened. Kesesesesesesesesese~” Gilbert snickers, “Hey, Francy-pants, when do you think Toni’s finally gonna get some out of this?”

“Gilbert!” My cousin smacks the arctic wolf upside the head all too harshly, “He’s seventeen!”

“So? That’s less than a year until eighteen!”

“Ve~?” I watch them curiously, “Get some of what? Pasta? I hope it’s pasta!”

The squabbling friends tense, eyes wide. Arthur snorts amusedly, “Good thing Lovino’s gone, right? He would  _ kill _ you if he found out you said that in front of Feliciano.”

“Yes,” Roderich raises an eyebrow, exchanging looks with the rabbit, “It  _ is _ good.”

Gilbert’s the first to break out of their shocked trance, “ _ Sheisse _ , you’re not gonna tell him, are you?! So unawesome!”

“Oh, no, of course not,” My uncle places a hand on Gilbert’s shoulder, face impassive as his spirit animal gives a sigh of relief, “Well, you know, as long as you and Francis keep yourselves in line throughout the investigation.”

“Wha- you arschloch! You lying, cheating arschloch!”

Francis complains, melodramatic as always, “Mon lapin, how could you do this to me?!”

“Like this.” Arthur sharply flicks the Frenchman’s forehead, causing him to back away with a muttered string of curses.

“Hey,” Ludwig cuts in gruffly, “Do we even know where we’re starting?”

The rabbit thinks for a moment, eyes closed in thought. “Well, I guess we could begin at the museum. They’re sure to have something about this, whether it be their interpretation of the story, or even just a pamphlet about magic.”

“Oo, can we look at the pirate section? I want to see if the awesome me’s there!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! As of this chapter, we are quickly reaching the cut-off point of updates, meaning I will soon be on hiatus with this side of the internet. These hiatuses are probably obnoxious for the readers, but completely and absolutely necessary for myself, because I spend this time writing new chapters so as to post in bulk like I've been doing. However, fear not, because each hiatus is never more than a month long, mainly because I feel bad making people wait. =3  
> The next time I plan on updating new content, as opposed to all of these updates to just get the AO3 posting of SAS caught up, will be April 22nd, a full month after the last time I posted new things.  
> Alright, now that the obligatory explanation of my hiatuses is done, onto the chapter! This chapter was the first of part 3, and starts off with Arthur telling everyone about his great-whater-grandma the witch. This, of course, leads to a fight, because these people are simultaneously stupid and dysfunctional, as Ludwig frequently points out and thinks to himself.  
> This chapter arc is basically going to be about dumb misadventures at the museum, as the end of this chapter intro-d. Also, this arc is going to give some more details/previews of the sequel that I'm going to write! =D  
> ... And yes, I fully plan on writing a sequel to this.  
> Long story short, throughout the planning and writing of this thus far, I've had many, many different ideas pertaining to the world-building and character development of this AU. Initially, I wanted this thing to be more than 5 parts long! However, common sense and reasoning won out, and I decided that instead of making a ludicrously long fanfic, I would just make a sequel to tell the story of how Antonio met Lovino and why he chose to bind himself to some snot-nosed kid after only a week or so of knowing them, which is even less time than how long Feliciano and Ludwig knew each other beforehand.  
> So yeah, fun things to come. =3  
> See you tomorrow!


	24. 3.12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Spamano, minor Pruaus  
> Warnings: PIRATES, but that's it.

-3.12-

And so, the next day brings with it a field trip to the museum, of which has been rented so that Vargas and co. may roam without worrying about bystanders or paparazzi. Arthur leads the way, carefully inspecting each exhibit for clues. Francis, whom lazily trails right behind his spirit, says he gets like that when in his ‘Sherlock Holmes mode.’ Following them are Gilbert and Roderich. My brother excitedly prances about, his charge occasionally tossing a reminder of their deal into the air, causing Lovino to snappily wonder what the hell’s going on. He and Antonio walk beside Feliciano and myself, the younger twin slowing down every once in awhile to look at a particularly interesting painting. And then we reach the pirate exhibit.

“ _ No _ , we’re not stopping to ‘find the awesome me,’” The rabbit testily answers before the question’s even asked. “We have a mission, and damn it all if we don’t complete it.”

Gilbert whines, “Aww, come on! Don’t tell me you’re not even a little curious about how people see our past escapades! Besides, I want to know how they interpreted Toni and I’s past relations!” He barks out a laugh, “Man, that must have confused historians.”

Antonio chuckles, “Yeah, things were pretty crazy back then, weren’t they?”

“Please?” Francis gives Arthur the puppy dog eyes.

The current leader heaves a loud, long-suffering sigh, but relents. “Fine, I suppose a few minutes wouldn’t hurt.”

“Aww yeah!” Gilbert cheers, dragging Roderich into the near-maze of artifacts. “I’m gonna find the awesome me! Kesesesesesesesesesese~”

Feliciano, arm linked with mine, pulls me off as well, “Luddy, Luddy, let’s look at the portraits! I want to see the techniques they used!”

As I agree with an accompanying sigh, a certain fox and his irritable charge slip away unnoticed.

* * *

“Hey, Lovi, look!” The Spaniard of the group points to a large oil painting deep within the bowels of the museum.

His companion’s eyes go wide. “Antonio, there is no way in  _ Hell _ that was ever you.”

Posed regally, sword aimed at the ground with both hands on the hilt’s top, is a slightly faded form, narrowed, normally cheery eyes glowing faintly, grin stretched into what was almost a sneer. Draping over his shoulders and down to his thighs rests a long, blood red coat with golden embroidery, that and a matching tricorn acting as the only symbols of his authority, what with the pirate’s simple combination of shirt-pants-boots. Expression dark, fully-armed, fairly built, Antonio almost seems menacingly.

Clueless as ever, he pouts, “What? Why not? For your information, I used to be one of the greatest pirates in Europe!”

“‘Why not?’ Are you kidding me?!” Lovino’s face steadily turns red, “He looks way too s- I mean, smart to have been you! You’re an idiot, idiot!”

“But Loviiiiiiiii-”

“I swear if you start that, you are so  _ dead to me _ -”

“-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-”

“Oh for crying out loud- ANTONIO, WILL YOU SHUT UP?!”

“-iiiiiii!” With the last syllable’s end, the fox practically collapses on his charge, arms wrapped around his shoulders, a tomato-faced Lovino pushing at his chest.

The Spaniard beams. “Oh no, Lovi, I’m falling!”

“WHAT?! Don’t you fucking dare!”

He laughs, lowering more and more of his weight. “Fusososososo~ you can’t stop it now! I’m falling, I’m falling, oh nooooo!”

And so, with a resounding shout of “FUCK!” From the Italian, Antonio completely drops himself on top of Lovino, forcing them both to the floor, one failing to restrain their good-natured snickers and the other cursing loudly. As Lovino gently bangs his head against the floor, his spirit animal winds about his waist in a hug, face to his charge’s upper-back.

Breath caught since the end of his incessant chuckling, Antonio casually breaks the comfortable silence they’d fallen into, “Hey, Lovi, do you remember when you were little?”

“You’ll have to be more specific than that.” He mumbles from the marble tiles.

“I remember,” The fox smiles softly, continuing on as if the Vargas hadn’t said a thing, “I remember one morning shortly after you took me home from the woods.”

* * *

Several years ago, the same fox smiled softly in his sleep, cuddled up to a big, fluffy pillow. If there was anything he loved most about his new home, surely it was how plush and comfortable the bed was! With an incomprehensible murmur, he nuzzled deeper into the blankets, face relaxed and content.

“WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

At the sudden cry of distress, a pair of dark green eyes shot right open. Antonio leaped up and rushed out of the room, following the miserable noises that’d awoken him. Downstairs and a few twisting halls later, he slammed open the door to the kitchen, head whipping from side-to-side. At the feeling of tiny fists banging on his shin, he looked down.

“Lovi? What are you doing?”

The little ball of rage glared, tears sliding over his cheeks, whether from anger or anguish. “Antonio, you stupid buttface! This is all  _ your _ fault!”

“Que? How am I a buttface?!” He questioned, “I didn’t do anything!”

“YES YOU DID, YOU STUPID IDIOT!” He whined louder, pounding harder at his spirit animal’s leg. “I TRIED TO MAKE BREAKFAST, THEN I- I- WAAAAHHHHH!”

As the elder twin continued to bawl hysterically, Antonio lifted the child into his arms, inspecting the tomato stains on his loose, once-white pyjama shirt, then shifted his gaze to the squashed tomatoes littering the floor. With a soft sigh, he plastered on a grin and turned to his charge.

“That’s okay, Lovi! You tried your best and that’s all that matters, right?” Antonio beamed, “Now, how about I clean this up, then make you some food, okay?”

Lovino sniffled and pulled his face away from the fox’s chest. “Fine. Whatever.”

He brought the kid back to the floor, and the rest of the morning flew by in relative peace and quiet.

* * *

“Remember that?”

“No,” Lovino growls, elbowing his spirit animal in the gut. Antonio reluctantly rises from his place with a groan, moving to lay beside the fuming teen at a sloth-like pace.

“Really? You were pretty cute that day.” He gives a slight pout, “Well, I mean, you were cute everyday, but you get the point.” The fox perks up at a sudden thought, giving a snap of the fingers, “Oh, do you at least remember how you used to wet the bed and say squirrels did it? That was adorable!”

The other’s expression morphs from pissed to horrified in mere seconds. “DAMMIT, ANTONIO, THOSE  _ WERE _ SQUIRRELS! THE FUCKING SQUIRRELS DID IT, OKAY?!”

As the Spaniard continues his mirthful laughter, his charge begins to viciously hit his arm to little to no effect, yelling bloody murder all the while.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gilbert dashes ahead of his small group, peering this way and that for something pertaining to his time as a pirate. I follow at a brisk pace, Roderich slightly panting from moving around. As for Feliciano, I’m currently carrying him in my arms, seeing as he’d eventually started complaining about all this walking we have to do.

“Ve~ Luddy, look!” He points to a series of diagrams showing how ships of this era were designed and built. “Boats!”

“Kesesesesesese~” My brother interjects, “You think that’s cool? Just wait until you see mine! The  _ Raubkopierer _ was the greatest ship to ever sail the seas; it was almost as awesome as me!”

Roderich snorts, “Gilbert, you didn’t really name your ship the  _ Bootlegger _ , did you? Way to be blunt. I bet you got arrested at least a hundred times more than the others, doing stupid things like that.”

“DON’T DOUBT THE AWESOME ME!”

As the two continue to bicker and Feliciano keeps proclaiming my need to look at various relics, I sigh.  _ This is going to be a long day _ .

Then, I hear the arctic wolf gasp, “HA! SEE?! I TOLD YOU I’M AWESOME!”

We stop.

Hanging on the wall is a large portrait of the upper half of a man with pale skin, off-white hair, and almost glowing red eyes. A “Prussian blue,” tricorn hat rests atop his head, a small, yellow chick sitting just inside its brim, long, matching coat closed over a collared shirt, trailing down to his mid-thigh. Mischief dances in his confident gaze, glinting with the golden buttons of his coat. Next to the painting lies a plaque reading “The Blue Menace,” detailing the horrendous escapades of a dreaded pirate.

“I don’t believe it.”

He turns to gape at me, “Wha- What do you mean ‘I don’t believe it?!’ It’s right in front of you!”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I have to believe it,” I begin walking away, “Come on, Feliciano; let’s go find the others so we can move on.”

“Ve~”

“BRUDER!” He whines.

I simply sigh, “So where do you think your brother and Antonio went?”

* * *

“HONESTLY, I SAID A FEW MINUTES! A FEW MINUTES! NOT A HALF AN HOUR, A  _ FEW BLOODY MINUTES _ !” Arthur screeches loudly as mutually sheepish looks pass throughout the reunited group. “NOW WE DON’T HAVE NEARLY AS MUCH TIME TO SEARCH FOR CLUES, YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!”

“Um, Arthur, mon cher, don’t you think you should-”

“ _ SHUT UP, FROG _ !”

Francis being ceaselessly ranted at by an angry Englishman, I turn to Ludwig and gently tug his sleeve. “Ve~ Hey, Luddy, let’s sneak off and do some investigating ourselves,” I beam, “It’ll be fun!”

“No.”

At his flat response, I pout, “Aww, but Luddyyyyy-”

He sighs, “I said no, and that’s final. We are  _ not _ getting separated from the others. Arthur already has to deal with our usual bouts of trouble-making; he doesn’t need people wandering off on top of that.”

“Ve~! But Luuudddddyyyy-”

“ _ No _ .”

“Lllluuuuuuuudddddddyyyyyyy-”

“Feli, no way in Hell are you seriously planning on walking out on us!” Before I know it, a sharp pinch of pain springs forth from my ear as fratello scolds me, “No!”

“Wahh, fratellloooo! That hurts!”

“Good!”

“Lovi, don’t be so mean to Feli-”

“No, you shut up, you stupid tomato bastard-”

“Kesesesesesesesesesesese, looks like the old married couple’s fighting again-”

“Gilbert, don’t pick a fight with them right now-”

“DAMN RIGHT YOU SHOULDN’T, STUPID POTATO-”

“Wahh, fratteeellllloooo, my eeeaarrrr!”

“OH COME OFF IT!” Arthur shouts, silencing the group save for my only minutely muffled whimpers. “I LEAVE YOU TO YOUR OWN DEVICES FOR ONE MEASLY MINUTE, AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS! I SWEAR-”

“Alright, we’re done now!”

And then cousin Francis’s at his side, dragging the still-screaming Englishman away while humming  _ La Marseillaise _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahah, I absolutely love how I ended this chapter with Francis dragging Arthur off while humming La Marseillaise, A. K. A. the French national anthem. X3 Aside from that, this chapter to an extent served as an introduction to the main idea of the sequel, in that it talked about Antonio and Gilbert's pirate days. So yeah. Crazy BTT pirates, but minus Francis. =3  
> Ah, but yeah, these idiots are slowly but surely making progress; it just takes them a good while to get shit done, because, well, you know what they're like.  
> Anyways, see you tomorrow with more 'Sherlock Holmes' mode!


	25. 3.14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Gerita, minor Spamano, & implied Pruaus  
> Warnings: None

-3.14-

“Honestly, this is just ridiculous! How are we supposed to get anything done when every five seconds- no, scratch that,  _ two _ seconds, some idiot wants to stop for tea and chips! Ridiculous, I say, ridiculous!”

Francis sighs, “Arthur, do you really have to be saying all of that aloud? These idiots can hear, you know.”

“Shut up, frog!” He snaps before returning to his half-muttered mantra of ‘idiots, idiots, ridiculous, idiots.’

A ways behind them, I irritably follow, Feliciano slung over my shoulder, silently breathing ‘ve~ve~ve~’ into my ear. Meanwhile, Antonio and Lovino do likewise, the fox being visibly happier about carrying Italian deadweight.

“Hey, Ludwig, how much longer until you think we’ll hit gold?” The Spaniard speeds up to match my pace.

I shrug, “I don’t know. I mean, we’re pretty far into the museum, so it really shouldn’t be any longer.”

“Fusosososo~ That’s great!” Antonio grins, gesturing a thumb over his shoulder, “Another hour or so, and Roderich will have Gil start carrying him too!”

“I’m right here, morons!” The Austrian huffs, my brother practically dragging him along.

“Kesesesesesese~”

“Ve~ Luddy?” My extra load drowsily murmurs.

“Yes?”

“Can you lift me a little higher? I kind of want a better view.”

I look at him in confusion, “What?”

Wiggling about, he tries to scooch himself further onto my shoulder, hands pulling at my shirt. “I mean, if I’m going to be up here, I at least want a good look at your butt!”

And thus, the gates of Hell are opened.

“WHAT?!”

“WE’RE IN A MUSEUM, YOU BLOODY-”

“Arthur, you’re yelling too!”

“SHUT UP,  _ FROG _ !”

“Kesesesesesesesesese, go get some, bruder!”

“Ve~ I just want to look at the butt!”

“BRUDER, DON’T ENCOURAGE HIM!”

“Ugh, I am so done with this bullshit. Gilbert, pick me up before I pass out from exhaustion or something.”

“Um, guys, I think we should stop yelling before we wake up-”

Despite Arthur being mid-tantrum, Feliciano’s insistence on wanting to see my butt, and even Gilbert’s complaints on having to carry Roderich around, we all simultaneously freeze at the series of mumbled groans coming from Antonio’s weighted shoulder.

“God fucking dammit people, can’t I just take a nap for once in my fucking life without some real  _ testa di cazzo _ ruining it for me with their shouting, and their arguments, and their overall  _ bullshit _ shenanigans?!”

Antonio quickly steps to the rescue, copying and pasting his usual grin before sunshining out, “Ah, good morning, Lovi! Did you have a nice nap?”

At these words, the elder Vargas brother pauses in thought.

“ _ Antonio _ .”

“... Yeah?”

“ _ What are you hiding _ ?”

Bright green eyes go wide. “Nothing!” And, with that, the Spaniard continues walking, speeding off as the rest of us watch on in stunned silence. However, even the fox spirit’s quick feet can’t stop what happens next.

“WAIT, IS FELI TRYING TO TOUCH THE POTATO’S BUTT?!”

“ _ Mierda _ !” As Lovino begins hawking at his back, belting out not exactly  _ pleasant _ -sounding Italian, Antonio picks up pace, virtually running away from the group.

“Wha- Hey! Don’t just run off like that!” I exclaim, “How do we know you’re not going to get lost over there?!”

“WAAAAHHHH! LOVI, STOP HITTING MEEEEEE!”

“YOU STUPID BASTARD, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU LET THE FUCKING POTATO TOUCH MY BROTHER! I’LL KILL YOU!”

“LOOOOVVVVVIIIIII!”

Francis, surprisingly, beats Arthur to the chase, sighing in exasperation at the scene. “Wow, this family is  _ fucked _ .”

Roderich pants, having apparently moved to using Gilbert as a chair throughout the exchange. “You don’t say?”

* * *

“Alright, I think this is it,” Arthur begins, looking around at the rest of us, “You know, I’m kind of proud of you all. We actually made it to the King Romulus exhibit without  _ killing _ each other!”

At this, Francis sobs dramatically, “Mon amour, how your words pain me so!”

“SHUT UP, FRENCHIE!”

“Okay, I’m done.” And there goes Roderich.

“Wha- Hey! You can’t leave without the awesome me!” Plus Gilbert.

“Yeah, I think you guys have the right idea here.” Plus plus Antonio.

“Fuck all of you, I need my afternoon siesta.” Plus plus plus Lovino.

Arthur twitches, a violent, jerking motion of mixed feelings. “And now, it’s just us. As soon as we make it, everyone ditches but  _ us _ . Holy mother of  _ fuck _ .”

“Ve~” Feliciano cheerfully exclaims from my shoulder, “We’re still here! Luddy and I will help you look for clues!”

The Brit blinks at the younger Vargas. Then, he brings forth from the depths of his messenger bag a beige and dark gray deerstalker, along with an old pipe. “So… I still get to be Sherlock Holmes?”

“Yes, you still get to be Sherlock Holmes.” Francis places a hand on his shoulder.

And then, his perpetually sour face slowly stretches, morphing into a wide, gleeful grin. Plopping the hat onto his head and elegantly holding the pipe, he turns to the Frenchman with an energetic shout of, “Alright, Watson. To the crime scene!”

Chuckling his amusement, Francis complacently follows behind Arthur’s newly-invigorated pace as the rabbit spirit runs to and fro, absorbing as much information as possible while occasionally pretending to blow on his pipe. Deadpanned, I proceed the two as Feliciano continues to point at and comment on everything he sees.

“Ve~ Luddy, look! That’s great-something-or-other-grandpa Romulus!”

I pause to inspect the painting, gazing at the middle-aged man depicted. At the Italian’s insistence, I put him down once more for him to excitedly point between himself and the dead king.

“Luddy, Luddy, do you think we look anything alike?” He beams.

I can’t help but to raise an eyebrow, “I suppose?”

However, Feli pouts, tugging on my arm. “Luuudddddddyyyyyy, I want details!”

“I don’t know, let me see.” I sigh as he walks over to stand side-by-side with the portrait. He blinks open bright amber eyes, a small smile present. “Well, you have the same eyes. That’s about where the similarities end, though.”

“Ve!” The pout returns, bringing crossed arms along for the ride.

“Aha! Eureka!”

“Hm?” At Arthur’s satisfied clamor, we peer about curiously.

My charge and I approach where the others stand, facing a wall detailing the circumstances of Aldrich and King Romulus’s first meeting. The rabbit runs about, poking at the display while whispering to himself.

“Arthur, you do realize you sound like a crazy person when you get like this, right?” Francis states tiredly.

“Shut up, I’m on a roll!” He cries, “The day Romulus and Aldrich met was November twentieth, and judging by the year, it was a full moon. Aldrich was a wolf spirit, so that could certainly inspire those silly werewolf tales, especially since the night he revealed his identity was  _ also _ a full moon.

“As for my ancestor, Hazelwood used to sell charms and the like on the side to make a living and support herself. She was known for keeping shadow wolves around as pets and something akin to guard dogs. This explains why those…  _ things _ could be found all over the place, back when she was alive. And then, of course, there was always- Aha! I’ve got it!”

The Frenchman almost seems amused, “Yes?

He turns to the rest of us, a mad look in his eyes, grin wide and wild.

“We’re going to England!”

* * *

“Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me here!”

I cling to his arm in panic, “B- but fratello! You have to go! How else are we going to find out what’s going on?”

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, we don’t even know why we’re going there in the first place!” Lovino snaps irritably. We’d incidentally interrupted he and Toni’s mid-afternoon siesta.

“Because it’s the only option if we want answers!” Comes Arthur’s outraged response, “Don’t you want to know why this is happening  _ now _ of all times?!”

He gives the rabbit one of his bitchiest faces yet, “No, not really!”

“I kind of do.” Casually remarks uncle Roderich.

“Yeah, it’ll be awesome! Maybe I can even tag Big Ben… Kesesesesesesesese~”

“ _ No _ , Gilbert.”

“Aww, but Roddy!”

“Come on, Lovi, I think it’ll be fun!” Exclaims Antonio, “Oo, like a big family vacation!”

Fratello glares, “English food sucks!”

“So?” Luddy cuts in, “There’s more to a country than it’s food, you know.”

“Oh shut up, you dumb potato! You nearly molested my brother earlier!”

I off-handedly notice his eye twitch. “In my defense,  _ he _ almost molested  _ me _ .”

“It’s true!” I beam with a giggle, “But you have to admit Luddy has a really nice butt!”

“ _ Madonna _ , Feli,” He groans, “Don’t say that kind of shit!”

“Ve~ But fratello, he does! It’s like the  _ ass of steel _ or something!”

And, of course, Lovino immediately pins the blame on anyone but himself. “Dammit Francis, I knew he was spending too much time with you!”

“Wha- I didn’t even say anything!” He replies, agast and melodramatic as ever.

“GUYS!” Arthur shouts, silencing the others. “We’re going to England and that’s final!”

“Fuck this shit I quit!”

And there goes Lovino, rage-quiting, just like he always does.

“Also, can someone please drill it into Feliciano’s head that I’d rather he not make inappropriate comments about my rear?”

I giggle.

_ Ve~ Luddy’s so cute when he actually thinks I’m going to listen to him! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, I am so sorry this is so late. You see, today was just one of those days in which I had all the busy classes that it's hard to get free time in, then I took a nap, then I had to go do stuff, & it's just been kind of pleasantly/not-so-pleasantly hectic today. Anyways, there actually aren't that many chapters left until the AO3 version's all the way caught up with the fanfiction.net version, so that's nice. This means I finally get a break! YAY!  
> And, of course, by that I mean the hiatus starts after I post 3.16 tomorrow. YAY!  
> Hahahah, I literally just checked the spreadsheet I keep on the progress of SAS & saw that tomorrow's the last update before the AO3 post's first hiatus! Funny, right?  
> Aside from that, this chapter was flat-out ridiculous, and if I'm being perfectly honest here, the main point was just to minutely move the plot along in-between the stupid shit these dorks tend to do.  
> So yeah, have fun waiting for the content drought to end as of tomorrow!


	26. 3.16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Rome x Germania, minor Gerita & Fruk  
> Warnings: None

-3.16-

“Ve~ Snuggles!” Bouncing onto the bed, I wrap my arms around Ludwig’s waist, nuzzling my face into his side.

He sighs gently, running a hand through my hair. “Yes, I know, you like cuddles.”

“All of our bags are packed for our trip, right?” I breath out.

“Just about.” My eyelids grow heavy. “Why did we need to prepare so soon, though? We’re leaving in three days, not tomorrow.”

“Fratello says it’s good to be prepared for things!” I grin, “Plus, I tend to be kind of scatter-brained, so it’s normally better for me to get things done while they’re still fresh in my head, you know?”

He grunts, “Hm, I guess that makes sense. You are rather… air-headed sometimes.”

I giggle softly, squeezing him a little. “Good night, Luddy.”

“Good night, Feli.”

I close my eyes as Ludwig shuts off the lights, losing consciousness almost instantly.

* * *

“Ugh, my head,” I blink dazedly, attempting to stand, only to make a few steps forward before falling flat on my face. “Fucking-  _ stupid _ Romulus.”   


As I finally manage to stop seeing double, I grab ahold of the nearest object, releasing a sudden shout, pain blossoming on my hands. I look down and glare at the ugly, red marks streaking across my palms. It only figures the first thing I touch is a  _ rose bush _ . However, I’m quickly distracted from this as a loud shriek erupts from the second story of the mansion a few meters away. Well, that certainly reveals where my Roman went.

* * *

I stir from sleep at the feeling of a cold finger prodding none-too-gently.  


“Mm… Feli, stop poking my face.”

The form next to me sighs, bending and flexing his hands, of which are still around my waist. “Ve~?”

At this realization, I immediately spring from bed with a shout. “WHAT THE HELL?!”

“Oh, now there’s no way this could be Feli’s spirit animal.”

Arms crossed and head tilted stands a man cloaked in red and gold, figure shadowed into a silhouette by standing right in front of the window, preventing moonlight’s entrance. However, despite the dark of the night, one feature remains clear: bright, unmistakably amber eyes.

“I mean, jeez, it’s  _ creepy _ how much you look like your ancestor, you know?” He leans forward, peering down at me.

I find myself unable to do anything but stare incredulously, “Wha- what?”

“Well, yeah,” he gives a small grin, “I get how this whole thing’s supposed to be ‘what goes around comes around’ or something like that, but I didn’t think so much would come back in the future. It’s kind of weird, especially since you all have to deal with the same magic-savvy psychopath the rest of us did.”

“W-wait, what do you know about the witch?!”

“And then, of course, there are the flat-out insane similarities, like the woods, the shadow wolves, hell, even the garden in the back is a parallel! Oh, and then, of course, there’s that one time Feli tried to paint you; do you remember what he said? He said the exact same thing I said to Aldrich once while drunk- oh shit, Aldrich!”

The man stops mid-tirade, standing at attention to look around the room, head whipping rapidly from side-to-side in its frantic search. “Oh no, he’s going to kill me for this! Again!”

My jaw drops. “No. There’s no way- you can’t  _ really _ be- this is crazy!” I shakily lift a finger, pointing straight at his face. “You’re  _ dead _ and have been for the past  _ nine hundred years _ ! That’s almost a thousand!”

“Hm?” The former king absent-mindedly gives me his attention once more. “Yeah, no, I’m dead alright. Aldrich and I came back from the afterlife just for you guys!”

And that’s about when he falls to the floor, Lovino standing behind him with a frying pan.

“Damn bastards, keeping me up all the time…”

* * *

“Okay, what the fuck are we going to do with them?”  


“Lovi!”

“What? I think that’s the first question we should ask, since these  _ mother fuckers _ woke me up  _ in the middle of the goddamn night _ , when I already missed my siesta because of you guys!”

“Well,” Arthur intrudes, “I think the first question should be ‘Are they really Romulus and Aldrich, or just some crazy people that tried to break in?’”

Luddy looks at him in forced equanimity, still shaken from the whole thing. “If they were trying to rob us or something, why was he poking my face? That doesn’t seem like the best way to sneak around.”

Cousin Francis sips at his coffee tiredly, all spark and flamboyancy dead from lack of his precious ‘beauty sleep,’ “Oh, I don’t know. Feli, you were there, right? What do you think?”

While the others have gathered themselves on the plush furniture of the formal lounge, I seated myself on the floor upon first entering, staring curiously at the knocked-out intruders. One of them, the ‘ghost’ that’d showed up in Luddy and me’s room, smiles peacefully, grappling at the other, a spirit animal from the presence of pointed ears, fangs, and claws.

I blink as the blond unconsciously swats at the human’s wandering hands. “They look like they do in the paintings, don’t you think?”

“Well, yes, I suppose so, but that doesn't exactly prove they're really… them.” The rabbit points out, “It seems the only truly accurate way to see who they are is to wake them up and ask, wouldn't you say?”

“I've got it!” Gilbert immediately springs from his position as uncle Roddy’s temporary pillow, allowing his charge to sleepily collapse onto deep red cushions. For a time, all is silent.

And then Gilbert comes back with a bucket full of water.

“Kesesesesesesesesesesese~ Everyone knows this is the best way to wake someone up!” He gleefully shouts, “IT’S AWESOME TIME!”

I quickly back up as he dumps the entire thing on the two, one releasing a panicked screech, the second going for the elder wolf brother’s jugular.

“SHIT!”

Before we know it, the red-eyed menace is tackled to the ground by a wet spirit, wrestling on the plush carpet.

“BRUDER!” Leaping into action, Ludwig joins the fray, using all his strength to pull them apart.

* * *

And so, roughly ten minutes later, we finally manage to pacify the wild beast. Although, by that I actually mean, ‘the great and handsome Romulus reclaimed his bearings and pounced on his surprisingly attractive companion, thoroughly distracting him enough for the other four spirits, later introduced as Ludwig, Gilbert, Antonio, and Arthur, to restrain him until he stopped trying to kill anything that moved.’.  


“So, what was your first impression of Mr. Aldrich?” The youngest of my darling grandsons gazes at me with wide, curious eyes. “When I met Luddy here, I thought he was really scary!”

Ignoring my wolf’s confused echo of ‘Mr. Aldrich,’ I grin softly and answer, “Well, I thought he was going to die.” With a growl, Aldrich promptly hits me upside the head.

“Ow!” A pout becomes present on my face, “Hey, what was that for?”

“Oh please, I wasn’t going to  _ die _ ; you’re being melodramatic,” The blond spits out. I guess he’s still bitter about his little water-induced meltdown. Who knew a dog would hate the stuff as much as a cat?

My thoughts are cut short at Feliciano’s giggle, “You two are silly. You’re like an old married couple; the ancient world’s version of cousin Francis and Arthur!”

At this, the Englishman nearly chokes on the tea he’d brewed. “Wha-what?!”

Meanwhile, his charge merely laughs and scooches ever closer to his bushy-browed Brit, “Ohonhonhonhon~”

“StupiD FROG!”

Right about now is when Ludwig decides to cut them off, “So, what are you doing here, anyways? Correction,  _ how _ are you here?”

“Oh, yeah, we’re here to help you kill shadow wolves!” I cheerfully exclaim, wrapping an arm about my spirit’s neck.

The wolf carefully lifts said arm, removing it unceremoniously. “And by that, he means  _ he’s _ here to help you kill shadow wolves. I’m just an innocent spectator.”

“Wha- but Aldrich!” I gripe, draping myself on him.

“No. I’d rather not be turned into a toad today, or anytime soon, thank you very much.”

“Aaaalllldddddrrrrrriiiiiiiiiccccccchhhhhhhh-”

“Hey, how come you two ended up in such different places if you jumped from the same hole in the sky?”

Shit. Gilbert just noticed the logical loophole.

“Um…” I stare sheepishly into space, thinking back to our fall.

* * *

“HEY ALDRICH!” I yelled over the pounding of the wind, something that so fascinatingly resembled the beating of a heart.  


“WHAT?” He responded in kind.

I flashed a devious grin, wrapping my arms tighter about him, “HEY, DO YOU THINK WE HAVE TIME FOR A FUCK BEFORE WE LAND?”

The look he gave me was downright incredulous, “WHAT?!”

To prove my point, I rutted against his leg a couple times. “AWW, COME ON! IT’S NOT LIKE ANYONE NEEDS TO KNOW, AND PLUS, I’M KIND OF HORNY.”

“NO WAY IN  _ HELL _ ARE WE HAVING SEX WHILE FALLING IN MID-AIR TO VISIT OUR DESCENDANTS.”

“I PROMISE I’LL MAKE IT QUICK!”

“NO!”

“BUT ALDRICH!”

One thing led to another, and Aldrich and I found ourselves in a strange game of chase, the wolf trying his hardest to get far, far away from me, and myself trying to catch up to him.

And then, of course, we landed.

* * *

“Heheheh…” I nervously rub the back of my head, lost in my own head. Aldrich just glares.  


“This idiot thought it would be a great idea to chase me while we were falling.”

Roderich blinks, “But why was he chasing you?”

This elicits a huff from him, “Why else? He wanted to have sex  _ mid-fall _ . Only an equally-stupid human would be okay with that!”

Everyone present pauses, some dumbfounded, others mildly surprised.

Ludwig cuts through the awkward silence with his halted question of, “So you’re…” he coughs into his fist, “Romantically involved?”

With a beam, I suddenly hug Aldrich affectionately, “Yeah, pretty much! Since shortly after we died, actually.”

The room returns to a state of dead quiet.

“Huh, so Shakespeare was right.” Comes the muttered comment from Arthur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahah, I love that last line! List of my favorites lines in this fanfic thus far:  
> 1\. "Huh, so Shakespeare was right."  
> Ah, so yeah, this is the last chapter before the hiatus! Hoorah! The next I post will be on April 22nd, exactly one month since the last time I updated the fanfiction.net version. So, to celebrate the AO3 post's first hiatus, of which will only be roughly nine days long, here's the re-introduction of Rome & Germania for you!  
> Fun fact about this AU: Romulus & Aldrich's joint death, already being kind of glorious & romantic to start, is romanticized & referenced to hell & back, so therefore a royal fuckton of literature, movies, television shows, & so on mirror &-or reference this. It's like the historical balcony scene of this AU. X3  
> And, in other news, is anyone else here into Homestuck? 'Cause it just ended. I'm not really sure what to feel about it.  
> Anyways, I'll see you in nine days! Bye!


	27. 3.18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Rome x Germania, Gerita, blink & you'll miss it Fruk  
> Warnings: None

-3.18-

"AHA! I KNEW IT!" Gilbert exclaims.

"Knew what?" Roderich isn't nearly as exuberant as his spirit, looking at the arctic wolf in confusion.

He leaps from his seat, hands waving about in the air, "Well, everything about this has almost perfectly paralleled the past, right?"

I sigh, "Yes, bruder. What's your point?"

"THIS MEANS THAT YOU AND FELI ARE GOING TO HOOK UP!"

And there goes the quiet.

"DAMN RIGHT I'M LETTING THAT STUPID POTATO ANYWHERE NEAR _MY LITTLE BROTHER_ -"

"Lovi, calm down! Pllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

"NO! YOU DON'T CONTROL ME!"

"BLOODY HELL, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME HERE!"

And there goes the peace.

* * *

 

"Ah, man, it's been so long since I was last in a brawl!" The old Roman stretches, bared muscles flexing none-too-subtly. "Don't you think?"

From our current bed, I shrug, "Eh, I guess. Not everyone's a bloodthirsty psychopath, you know."

He pouts, "Aldrich."

"Romulus," I cock an eyebrow.

With a sly grin, he flips off the light, slipping onto the mattress, a pair of arms winding themselves about my waist. He gently rests his head on the spot between my shoulder and chest with a light sigh. And then he starts sucking on my neck.

"What are you doing?" Comes my emotionally-masked response.

I feel his beam against my skin, "You know, I never did get off…"

I simply can't restrain the exasperated groan that comes out. "You know, having sex while in the process of visiting our grandchildren is even _worse_ than doing so while falling from the afterlife."

"Aww, can't I at least get a handjob? Please?"

"No."

He pulls at my arm, pressing wet, needy kisses to my shoulder, "Please? For me?"

With a growl, I push him away, flopping onto my side. "You get horny at the worst of times and I'm done with it."

This, of course, doesn't persuade him, as he continues scooching himself closer so that we're spooning. I kick him in the shin.

"Ow! Aldrich, that hurt!" He springs back, finally giving me some space.

In the dark of the night, I cover my mouth to hold back a barking laugh.

* * *

 

The next day, I suppose the universe just hates me or something, because I end up practically dragging the world's biggest wolf downstairs for breakfast as he pathetically - _adorably_ \- whimpers his exhaustion. Aldrich never was a morning person.

"Oh, good morning," Arthur greets. "Did you sleep well?"

I smile, plopping my load onto a chair before taking the one next to it, "Oh, yeah, it was fine. You don't really sleep much in the afterlife!" I laugh jovially, looking around. "Hey, where are Feli and Lud?"

The rabbit scowls, "Late. Again. They're making quite the unfortunate habit out of this."

"Arthur, please," Francis pulls his spirit into his lap, "Would you take it easy for once? Who knows the pure _travesty_ this must be causing for your blood pressure!"

He promptly receives a smack to the face, "Stupid frog! Cut that out!"

"Ve~!"

At that moment, two sets of footsteps come bounding down the stairs. We pause, listening as they dash through the hall, nearly slamming the double doors open. Lightly panting from the exertion, Feliciano enters the dining room, eagerly pulling Ludwig along behind him.

Noticing the rabbit's foul mood, the gray wolf gives him a sheepish look. "Sorry for our tardiness; Feliciano didn't want to get up."

At this, my grandson pouts, seating himself across from me. "But I was comfortable!"

Ludwig sighs.

At the other end of the table, Lovino can be heard coughing loudly and fakely into his hand, causing everyone to pause and shift their attention to him.

Feliciano raises an eyebrow, "Yes, fratello?"

"Um, er," His face goes red as he points to Aldrich, "Is that a… ?"

With a blink, I adjust myself to follow his gaze, eyes landing on his neck.

"Holy shit."

At the base of the dead wolf's throat, small but obvious, is a dark, purple welt.

"YES! FINALLY!" I leap from my seat, fists in the air, grin large and wide. I pump the air a few times, cheering my success.

"What just happened?" I hear Ludwig half-state, half-ask.

I turn to address the others, "Well, shortly after we died, we kind of took advantage of everything and fucked, right? During this, I tried to give Aldrich a hickey, but it turns out that once you die, wounds and even bruises heal ridiculously fast. _But_ ," I hold up a finger, "This rule of thumb apparently gets tossed out the window if we come back to visit. Do you know what this means?"

Arthur's face drops, "Does this mean you can die again?"

"I have no idea!" I proclaim, "I was just thinking that I can finally give Aldrich hickies, but that's a good point too. We should probably be wary about that, heheheh…"

Gilbert whistles, leaning over to get a good look, "Damn, knowing the old dog, he's going to be pretty upset when he wakes up."

"Wakes up?" I observe the wolf, his head lolling back slightly, eyes closed peacefully. I wait only but a few moments before a soft snore releases itself from his mouth. "Huh, I guess that explains why he hasn't yelled at me yet. That's pretty adorable."

"Yeah, pretty much," Antonio agrees through a mouthful of tomato.

Lovino shoots him a rather dirty look, "Really? You're eating with your mouth full?"

"Yup!"

My grandson plants his face onto the table with a groan, "I am literally surrounded by classless idiots."

"Oh, that reminds me," Roderich perks up, "Are we still going to England?"

Arthur blinks, "Going to England… ? Oh, yeah, that's right. We were going to England to further investigate the shadow wolf phenomena, but then you two showed up. Would you be alright with leaving right after you got here?"

I shrug, "Sure, I don't mind. I mean, Aldrich will probably freak out a bit, but whatever."

"Kesesesese~" Gilbert cackles, "I wonder how many spoons I can balance on his nose without him noticing!" He holds up his silver spoon, carefully placing it on top of the sleeping wolf's nose.

Roderich huffs, "I bet you can't even do _five_."

"You're on, Roddy!"

And thus begins the spoon balancing challenge to end all spoon balancing challenges.

* * *

 

Something cold and smooth on the tip of my nose, I twitch with an incoherent mumble.

"Shit, I think he's waking up!"

Blearily, I open an eye at the whispered shout. I grunt at the shapeless figures surrounding me, then go back to calm, blissful darkness. Then, I feel whatever's on my nose shift, as if something's being placed on top of it. I open both eyes this time, blinking to annihilate the blurriness from my vision.

"Morning, sweetie!" One of the strange forms says gently, white, somewhat-rectangular parts flashing and going out like a beacon.

I breathe a particularly deep sigh, causing the unknown object on my nose to slip to the floor, making musical chinks on the polished hardwood. I sit straight up and avert my gaze to the ground.

"... Were you balancing spoons on my nose?"

"HA!" Gilbert jumps up from his perch against the table, pointing at Roderich exuberantly, "'Can't even do five,' huh? Well guess who just got served! _You_ did! THE AWESOME ME HAS PREVAILED!"

At my other side, Romulus covers his mouth. "I told them not to!"

I narrow my eyes warily, "Oh really?"

"Yup, you should be thanking me right about now. If I hadn't come along, they would have used dishes!"

"Hey, how come you're so sleepy anyways?" I shift to look at Roderich. "I mean, Romulus isn't nearly this tired, so what's up with that?"

I answer, "I am unused to sleeping."

"Allow me to elaborate!" The Roman cuts in, "You see, in the afterlife, no one actually needs sleep, since, well, _we're dead_. However, some of us, like me, choose to sleep for various reasons. I sleep because I like naps and cuddles! Aldrich thinks it's kind of a waste of time, so he stopped doing it," He leans in, pressing his cheek to mine, "The big teddy he is, he humors me by being my cuddle-buddy anyways! Isn't that just the cutest?"

"Personal space," I growl out, sharply elbowing him in the gut.

Romulus recoils, wrapping strong arms about his waist. "Ow, why do you always have to hit me there?!"

The Austrian continues, "Huh, so it's kind of like jet lag, but worse because you haven't slept in several centuries."

"Yeah, pretty much," I conclude. "Apparently, not only do Earth-bound ghosts keep bruises and such, but we also find out very quickly that sleep is amazing."

"Kesesesese~ Looks like I'll have the chance to beat my high score of seven nose-spoons!" My grandson exclaims.

I fix him with a glare, "If you even think of doing that again, I will personally scare you into your wolf form, grab you by the tail, and hang you upside down until you faint."

He freezes, "Shit."

"'Shit's right," Romulus gives a short, nervous laugh, "He never goes back on a threat."

I stand, "If you will excuse me, I am going to go find something productive to do."

As I walk off at a brisk pace, I hear the tapping of frantic footsteps trailing behind.

"Wah, Aldrich, wait up!"

"No thank you."

* * *

 

"Ve~ Luddy, come on!"

I pull the bulky wolf behind me, skipping off in the direction of the neighbor's fields. Today, I'm going to paint a vineyard landscape! As I search about for a nice place to set up my supplies, I hum a short tune, a cheerful grin on my face.

He pulls at my hand, "Feli, would you slow down? It's not like the sun's going down any sooner."

"But I want to make sure I have plenty of time to paint!" I pout, picking up speed.

Dashing through the rows upon rows of grapevines, I look this way and that, trying to find the perfect spot. So caught up am I in this, that I fail to see the rock right in front of me. With a panicked shout, my feet are pulled out from beneath me, and I fall.

"Sheisse!"

And yet, before I have the chance to land flat on my face, a firm hand tightens its grip on mine, holding me above ground. Shaking, I allow Ludwig to drag me to my feet once more, wrapping my arms around his middle.

"Wahh, Luddy, I almost fell and broke my nose!" I whine into his shirt.

He awkwardly pats my head. "I-it's alright, okay? Sure, you almost hurt yourself, but you didn't, and that's all that matters. Be careful next time."

I tilt my head upwards to smile at him, "Ve~ Good point!" My eyes flit about the area, "Actually, this looks like a pretty good painting spot, don't you think?"

"I guess so," The wolf shrugs. "I don't really know much about this kind of thing."

With one final nuzzle to his chest, I release him, digging through my messenger bag for the necessary items. Only but a few minutes later, I stand with a small canvas resting on one of the vertical planks meant to guide the vines. My wolf stands behind me, watching as I happily work away at the blank space, cloth slowly being covered with purples, greens, and yellows. My brush makes curving, gentle strokes of color for the multitude of vines, a smaller one spotting the green with tiny dots of violet. Afterwards, I go in with a darker shade of forest, squiggling the finer details of the vines.

I hear Ludwig shift at the sound of rustling twigs.

"Hm?" I gaze at him curiously. "Luddy, what was that?"

He continues to stare intensely at the vines, "It's probably just an animal, maybe Antonio wandering around the fields again."

"Okay!" I return to my painting.

As the sounds continue, he slowly moves in the direction of the creature, whatever it is. Undetected, I watch him investigate, slightly worried. He abruptly whips his head to the side, zeroing in on a particular stretch of grapes, body hunched and ready to pounce.

A stick breaks.

Without a second thought, Ludwig leaps over the vines, the shriek of a howl other than his own permeating the air.

And, of course, I freak out.

"WAHHHOHNOMAFIAGHOSTSPLEASEDON'TKILLME!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOD ALMIGHTY THIS HIATUS WAS TOO LONG. So yeah, this past week & then some have been absolute hell for me, it being the end of the quarter. On top of that, I had a lot of stuff going on outside of school, only making it so that I literally couldn't work on this fanfic until TODAY. Therefore, only two chapters have been completed, and this upload spree's only going to last for today & tomorrow! XD ... Which really isn't good enough to deserve an 'XD.'  
> Anyways, today you all learned a couple of interesting things about afterlife mechanics in this AU:  
> 1.) While in the mortal plane, ghosts can be hurt, and  
> 2.) In the afterlife, ghosts can stay up for as long as they want, but as soon as they go to the world of the living, they really do need to sleep.  
> So yeah, see you tomorrow!


	28. 3.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Rome x Germania, minor hints of Gerita  
> Warnings: Mentions of past violence

-3.2-

"WAHH MAFIA GHOST ATTACK!"

I come running down the stairs as the door slams open to my precious grandson crying out in fear. In the foyer, Ludwig stands, bruised and clawed, Feliciano clinging to his neck. The two are then swarmed by a suffocating mass of people, all members of the household fussing over them except for Lovino, who stands in a doorway, mouth agape.

"Feli, are you alright?!" I push past the others, cupping the panicking Italian's face to check for wounds.

He nods vehemently, "Si, I'm fine, but Luddy got hurt and it really freaked me out! You don't think he's going to _die_ , do you?!"

I breathe a sigh of relief, "Oh thank God. What happened?"

"Perhaps we should head somewhere else first," Aldrich states, "We need to bandage your wounds, right?"

Ludwig nods once, carrying Feliciano off towards the hallway Lovino currently blocks. Subsequently, this happens:

"Whoa, whoa, hold up." Lovino glares, fixing the wolf with a rather nasty look, "What the actual _fuck_ did you do to make my brother scream about mafia ghosts?!"

"Wha- I didn't even do anything!" His eye twitches, "We were attacked by a _shadow wolf_ ; of course he got scared!"

The Italian huffs, "Shadow wolves or no, my brother's freaked out and it's all your fault!"

"Would you stop picking fights at the very worst of times?!" Arthur snaps, "Honestly, maybe we could find out all sides of the story if you'd just let us sit down and _talk_ about things for once!"

He fixes the rabbit with his nastiest scowl yet but moves aside regardless, turning sharply on his heel to lead the way.

"Yikes," Aldrich comments, the two of us lagging behind the others.

"I know, right?" I sigh, continuing on for a surely tiresome story time.

* * *

 

"Now that we're all seated and comfortable, why don't you tell us what happened?" Cousin Francis looks at us worriedly.

Luddy begins, "Well, Feliciano and I were wandering around in the neighbor's fields again because he wanted to paint a landscape of them."

"Did you at least save the painting?"

"Antonio, my brother _could have fucking died_ , and yet your main concern is the _painting_."

"Ow, Lovi, that hurt!" The fox whimpers, rubbing his head where fratello had hit him.

"Good, you deserve it!"

"Fratello, stop being mean to Toni!" I pout from Ludwig's side, still clutching onto his arm affectionately.

The wolf sighs, rubbing one of his temples with his free hand, "Anyways, we were standing around in the vineyards when I started hearing a rustling noise, like something running amuck between the plants. So, I decided to investigate, and it turned out to be a shadow wolf. I managed to activate the self-destruct hex, but got slightly beaten up in the process. Is that good enough of an explanation?"

It's silent for a moment, only for Arthur to break the ice with a groan, a hand smacking onto his forehead, "Ugh, looks like we're not going to England then. We'll have to take care of this as soon as possible!"

"Well, think about it this way," Francis grins, a hand on the rabbit's back, "At least this means we won't have to eat terrible English food for a while longer, right?"

"Oh, shut up, ya' wanker," He hisses grumpily.

"Ve~ Fratello, guess what? We don't have to eat English food! Yay!"

My older brother gives me a funny look, "Yeah, we already covered that. Pay attention, will you?"

"Oo, hey Lovi!" Toni perks up, "We should do something special to celebrate that we don't have to eat Arthur's cooking!"

He turns his incredulous look to the Spaniard. "Wait, what? Why the fuck would we do that?!"

"Keseseseseses~" Gilbert cackles, "We should dump tea into a river or something!"

"Wha- Can you _not_?" Arthur exclaims half in exasperation, half in outrage, "Honestly, what the bloody hell is with people and dumping British goods into the harbor? Besides, weren't you all _excited_ to go on vacation to England?!"

"Yeah, but now we don't have to eat terrible food, so we're even more excited!" Cousin Francis beams cheerfully, "I mean, it's not that we don't love and care about you, but, well, there's a reason you're not allowed in the kitchen."

The rabbit mutters angry, incomprehensible curses to himself for a moment, then promptly proceeds to smack his French charge upside the head, eliciting a sharp cry of distress from my cousin.

"Hey, Lovi, we should make paella!" Toni grins brightly, nearly blinding all who behold the sight.

And yet, somehow, fratello manages to form a slightly forced scowl at the expression. "Fine, fine, whatever. You do realize we have private chefs for that, right?"

"Yeah, but it's much more fun when you do it yourself!"

Francis smiles, "You don't mind if I join in, do you? I used to love helping maman in the kitchen," He pauses, "Oh, but Arthur's still not allowed to cook."

"FUCKING FRO-"

"Hey, quick question," Grandpa Romulus raises a finger. "What's 'paella?'"

Lovino freezes as everyone turns to gauge Antonio's reaction. The fox spirit's nicely-tanned skin is stark white, his horrified features accentuated from the tremendous intensity of his pale.

"You've… never… had… paella?"

And thus opens the floodgates.

"Paella's almost as great as tomatoes!" The Spaniard jumps to his feet, hands flying, "It's an amazing, delicious, wonderful thing with rice, seafood, chicken, rabbit, sometimes vegetables, sometimes without meat, and it's really, really awesome. Like, it's reached _Gilbert_ levels of awesome! HOW COULD YOU HAVE NEVER TRIED PAELLA?!"

"Well, logically, it kind of makes sense," Uncle Roddy cuts in, lip curled pensively. "After all, he was alive roughly a thousand years ago, right? I don't think paella's been around that long."

Fratello agrees, "Yeah, and besides, isn't paella mainly from some coastal region of Spain? Even if it was around back then, Grandpa probably wouldn't have had it anyways, because he lived all the way in Rome."

Romulus shrugged, "And even if I did know about it, I probably wouldn't have had it made for me, because Iberians were considered barbarians."

"So were Germans," Aldrich gives the Roman a blank look. Hey, that expression's kind of like when Luddy gets really exasperated because I want to paint on the roof again!

Grandpa goes sheepish, "Hah, yeah, well, you're different."

"How?"

Their eyes meet, amber and green locked in silent combat. Grandpa's grin is clearly forced, Aldrich's glare stern, both just staring, and staring, and staring, and-

"Geez, you two really need to bone."

Thank God for Gilbert.

The ghosts turn their attentions towards the arctic wolf, the spirit deadpanned, the former king relieved.

* * *

 

"Ve~ Paella, paella, paella, paella, paella-"

Feliciano chants happily, clenched hands moving up and down minutely to the beat of the repeated word. Antonio washes his hands at the large farmhouse sink on one side of the vast, unusually habited room known as the kitchen, Lovino sitting on the counter, tomato in hand and already dripping its red, translucent juice from a big bite taken as if it were an apple. Having decided to sit in so as to see what this oh-so praised 'paella' is, the visiting ghosts stand off to the side, conversing between themselves while stealing occasional glances at the resident 'paella expert.' I smile softly at the scene from my place beside the younger Vargas twin.

_It's kind of interesting that we're actually in the kitchen for once…_

Pleasant smells infest the area, trailing up the nostrils of all who enter and seducing them with mouth-watering aromas akin to olfactory catnip. Bright, white tiles coat the floor, each individually polished to perfection, creamy, yellow walls complementing the flooring and surprisingly subtle, olive green cabinets topped with neutral, marble counters and light gray overheads separated by a mossy, glassy backsplash. The sink sits gracefully upon one section of cabinet, a steel monolith uncharacteristically engraved with flowers and foliage of sorts, mainly roses. Stainless, double stoves, an insanely large fridge, and two dishwashers are placed about, an island and grill at the room's center.

"Alright, I think I've got everything I need!" The fox grins, observing the wide assortment of ingredients carefully organized on the island.

"SHIT!"

The yell comes suddenly, along with the crash of yet another priceless vase, as the beginning of a song rings throughout the air.

Feliciano blinks. "'Respect' by Aretha Franklin… oh, that must be mama!" With a grin, he shouts out, "HEY, UNCLE RODDY, TELL MAMA I SAID HI!"

"Wah!" Antonio jumps at the unexpected noise, almost dropping a bowl of seasonings.

The Austrian rushes into the kitchen, slamming the door behind him, phone out and eyes wide. "Quick, what do I do? Elizabeta keeps calling for a check-up on the twins and I don't know what to tell her!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, & welcome to the last chapter of this update spree! In this edition of SAS, Feliciano freaks out about mafia ghosts or something, Lovino comes about this close to declaring full-on war on Ludwig, unresolved tensions briefly arise between Romulus and Aldrich, Antonio just wants to make some damn paella, & Roderich flips out.  
> Just, you know, same shit as always.  
> Aside from that, in the next update spree, three new characters are going to be introduced: Hungary, her spirit animal, & her spirit's older brother! =3 *confetti* Also, no, I won't be letting you know who those two are until they're actually brought up; I like making you think about stuff. ;3 In the meantime, just wondering, should I do a chapter arch tying up the loose threads of unresolved tension in Romulus & Aldrich's relationship? I mean, I made Ludwig & Lovino stop trying to kill each other, so should I do the same with these two? Hope you can give me some feedback!  
> So yeah, I answer literally every comment I get, have fun playing the guessing game of the two new people joining in a copule chapters, & I'll see you in a month or something! =3


	29. 3.22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Blink-and-you'll-miss-it HunBel  
> Warnings: None  
> Note: This chapter was beta-d by The_OTP_Fangirl.

-3.22-

“Oh, come on,” I nearly groan, “just tell her the truth.”

Roderich looks at me incredulously as his smartphone goes off once more from the coffee table nearby, the calls coming in quick succession and gradually picking up pace. Having been skillfully herded by Arthur, the whole clan lays sprawled about the formal lounge for a family meeting. The topic of discussion: how much exactly my precious grandsons’ mom needs to know about this and how to explain it.

Gilbert glances between myself and his charge, then speaks, “I kind of have to agree with Romulus on this one. I mean, you can’t just keep something as big as all this from her.”

“But what the hell am I supposed to say?” He asks panickedly, “‘oh, hey, Eliza. The twins? Yeah, they’re fine; Feli just got attacked by some crazy shadow monster again, then came this close to getting kidnapped by the ghost of his ancestor. Oh, and did I mention the ghost and his also-dead spirit animal are staying with us for some inexplicable reason? And on top of that, we’re probably going to have to fight a killer witch, who just so happens to be Arthur’s great-whatever-grandmother?!’ Yeah, sure, because that conversation would go so _ damn well _ .”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” the arctic wolf gives a flourish of the eyes, arms crossed. “All I’m saying is that she’s gonna find out eventually, so she might as well find out from you instead of the media or some shit.”

The Austrian freezes up. “What? What do you mean ‘the media?!’”

“Ve~” Feliciano cuts in, “the media knows everything, remember? They knew about Luddy just a few days after we bound ourselves!”

“Okay, we are  _ not _ letting her find out about from the celebrity gossip column!” He exclaims, clutching the handle of his cream-colored mug so hard his hands turn pale.

Just then, the phone goes off, its cry of ‘What you want-’ causing Roderich to swallow nervously, a cold sheen coating his face.

I clasp my hands together, looking to the others. “Alright, who wants to answer it?”

“I call not it,” Gilbert immediately blurts out.

At his shout, a chorus of ‘not it’s rings throughout the room, leaving Arthur to release an irritable yell of, “God dammit!”

Huffing and puffing, the rabbit fearlessly approaches the table on which the cell phone resides, grabbing it and pressing the answer button in one fell swoop.

“Hello?” He says grumpily. Right on cue, he holds the device far away from his ear as a female voice begins loudly chewing him out. “Elizabeta- Eliza- Elizabet- MRS. HÉRDERVÁRY! … Thank you. Yes, Roderich is here, yes, he’s been ignoring your calls, and yes, there’s good reason behind it. Just let me- Wait, what? You- you’re  _ what _ ?! No, don’t do that! Just listen to-” From the other end comes a monotone dial as he cuts himself off, biting at his lower lip, green eyes clenched shut in a grimace. “... me.”

All is quiet as Arthur returns the phone to its owner then turns to address the group, face solemn. “I have bad news… Elizabeta says she’s coming over.”

* * *

 

“Roderich, please, calm down!”

“CALM DOWN?! HOW CAN I POSSIBLY  _ CALM DOWN _ ?!”

Uncle Roddy frantically paces about the room, pulling at his uncharacteristically ruined hair in panic, eyes wide and dilated. “ELIZA’S GOING TO STAY HERE. I’M GOING TO HAVE TO TELL THIS WHOLE TRAINWRECK OF A STORY TO HER FACE. SHE’S GOING TO KILL ME, OR AT THE VERY LEAST MAKE MY LIFE A LIVING HELL FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO  _ DO _ ?!”

The arctic wolf blinks. “Um… tell it how it is and move on?”

His charge looks at the other, gaze spiked with contempt and fear.

“ _ Sheisse _ ,” he mutters, “okay, maybe not that, but you still need to come clean about this! I mean, come on; grow a pair!”

“... A pair of what?” Aldrich murmurs to himself from the sidelines, only to be promptly hushed by Grandpa Romulus.

“YES, I GET THAT I’M SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN THIS SHIT, BUT  _ HOW _ ??” He claws at his hair, further making a mess of the chestnut-colored locks.

Wordlessly, Antonio rises from his seat and approaches Roderich. He then grabs him by the shoulder, despite his loud, flailing protests, and begins to slap the Austrian back and forth with his free hand.

“GET-” he exclaims, halting after each hit, “A- GRIP.”

“What the- TONI, YOU CAN’T JUST START SLAPPING HIM LIKE THAT!” The elder wolf brother barks, fruitlessly trying to pry the other away from his charge.

“Oh, God dammit all,” Arthur hisses, the palm of his hand meeting his forehead with a high-pitched smack.

“Alright, that’s it.” Cousin Francis jumps to his feet, arms crossed. “This is  _ my _ house, and I will not have you soil it with your fighting, and arguments, and freaking out over stupid things! EVERYONE SHUT UP!”

At his shout, a stark veil of silence falls over the group, all eyes on the scowling Frenchman. “Honestly, what is wrong with us? Why is that we can’t do a single thing without turning the room into a battle arena?! This is just crazy!

“We’re a  _ family _ . Yeah, sure, we’re a total catastrophe when it comes to relations and whatever the hell is even happening at this point, but nonetheless, we’re still a family and we seriously need to stop this near-constant arguing. Life is short; why would we waste what little time we have together yelling at each other?”

In that moment, we pause to take good, long looks at the people around us. Antonio lets go of Roderich, fratello scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, Gilbert quietly nods his head, and Arthur gazes at Francis with shining, unadulterated admiration of such a wonderful speech. Then, Grandpa Romulus raises a hand.

“Hey, you guys do realize we technically have all of eternity together in the afterlife, right?”

Everyone turns their attention to him.

Gilbert asks confusedly, “we do?”

“Yeah!” He grins. “As it turns out, heaven, hell, and even God don’t exist. Well, I mean, there might be some deity or whatever somewhere, but they’re not  _ obvious _ in their presence, nor do they judge who ends up where; the afterlife is like a huge blank canvas that shifts to make exact replicas of scenes from the memories of the dead. As long as you pay attention to things, you can live out your afterlife in the comfort of your own home, and, on top of that, it’s really easy to track people down as long as you’re stubborn as an ox about it.”

Francis blinks. “Huh, okay, so maybe we don’t have nearly as short a time together as I originally thought. But regardless, we still need to stop being so consistently terrible to each other!”

The phone rings once more, Aretha Franklin’s clear voice ringing out and echoing off the walls of the room, causing Roderich to nearly jump out of his skin.

“Oh sheisse, it’s Eliza again!” He exclaims.

“Oh, give me that,” Arthur sighs in exasperation, snatching the phone once more to pick it up. He answers the call with a polite “hello,” then winces as mama releases another tirade of shouts conveying either panic, anger, or some strange mix of the two. As she continues, the rabbit’s skin grows paler and paler, his eyes widening and jaw gaping open at her words.

When the dial finally sounds, he drops the phone.

My cousin approaches him at this odd behavior, one hand on the spirit’s shoulder, the other waving side-to-side in front of his face. “Arthur? Mon cher? Are you alright?!”

He looks at Francis blankly, and in a dull, frightened voice proclaims, “Eliza had her private pilot speed the whole way here.  _ She’ll be over in less than an hour _ .”

* * *

 

Meanwhile, less than an hour away, three people stand outside a local airport. The first, a tall man with spiked, blond hair, hazel eyes, and a thin but dark scar on his forehead, lugs several bags and suitcases into the trunk of a limousine with the help of the airport staff and driver. Off to the side, his younger sister and her mistress watch them work, talking quietly amongst themselves.

The more petite of the two, a girl with short, dirty blonde hair restrained by a green ribbon headband, gives a cheerful, although cat-like, smile as she responds, “well, if anything, at least we get to see the others again. How long ago was the last time we got in touch with Francis and Arthur? Three years?”

“Urgh, I still can’t  _ believe _ those two. They should know by now not to keep secrets from me when it comes to my kids!” The other fumes, gnawing at a red handkerchief to calm her nerves. Flames steadily burn within her vibrant green eyes, the flower in her hair doing nothing to reduce the fear factor of her rage.

The blonde gives a sigh, placing a hand on Elizabeta’s shoulder, “hey, how about I make waffles after you kill them to cheer you up. Is that okay?”

“Belgian?” She asks.

With a grin, the spirit nods exuberantly. “Yup!”

Pulling the cloth from her teeth, she smiles. “Sounds good to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I RIIISSSSEEEEE! And by that I mean "SHIT, IT'S BEEN TWO MONTHS AND I HAVEN'T POSTED ANYTHING! DX"  
> Ahh, yeah, really sorry about the long wait! These past two months have been pretty crazy IRL, but now that I'm on Summer vacation, I should definitely be able to update more. In fact, to help make up for the utter bullshit of this unofficial hiatus, I'm going to propose a deal. If I post once a week for the rest of my summer, then I want you guys to send in at least one long, detailed review on each chapter. It doesn't have to be one good review of specific tips and feedback per person, just one or more per chapter. As long as you guys continue to do this, I'll post at least once a week for the entirety of two months. Isn't that great? =D The deal, if you choose to accept it, begins with this chapter, so get to it!  
> As for the chapter in of itself, guess what? ELIZABETA'S SHOWING UP NEXT CHAPTER! I mean, yeah, it's at the very end, but whatever. XP Also, next chapter will include some insight on Romulus and Aldrich's relationship issues that they're working to solve. So yeah, great plans for the near future. Great plans.  
> Anyways, I'll see you all whenever I post next! Bye! =3


	30. 3.24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Mainly just Roger (Rome x Germania)  
> Warnings: IMPLIED SEX. AND BY 'IMPLIED,' I MEAN 'THEY DONE FUCKED.' Oh, and also Austria gets punched in the face.

-3.24-

00:40

“WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!” Gilbert cries aloud, hands clenching snowy hair.

Roderich glares and yells in outrage, “YOU WERE THE ONE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN!”

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!” Romulus stands, silencing the two. “I’d say we have about forty minutes or so tops to get everything set up. We can’t just drop this bombshell of craziness on Elizabeta; we need to ease her into it, right? Now, let’s delegate jobs. Francis,” he turns to the Frenchman, “I want you to greet her at the door, since you’re the host. It’ll look suspicious if he avoids Elizabeta, so Roderich will go with you. Do you think you can do that?”

“But of course,” Francis nods. Roderich sighs, but reluctantly agrees as well.

“Great!” He continues, “Gilbert, I want you to make sure bedrooms and bathrooms are set up for our visitors; this will hopefully keep your mind off of death and destruction for a while.”

In response, he mutters in incomprehensible German, a look of unabashed terror shining in his eyes.

The Roman addresses Lovino and Antonio, “remember how you were making paella earlier? Well, I’m sure Elizabeta and her companions will be more than a little hungry when they get here.”

The fox perks up as if having an epiphany. “I bet they will! Lovi, we can’t just let those poor, weary travelers starve!” He grabs onto the Italian’s arm.

“Anyways,” Romulus then focuses his attention on Arthur, “I’m going to assume you know this mansion inside and out. Would that be correct?”

“Yes, essentially,” The Brit nods.

“As I said, we need to ease her into this; we can’t just outright tell her there are two dead people hanging out here, can we? Nope!” He briefly laughs, “so, I need you to hide Aldrich and I for the time being so she doesn’t flip out. You can sneak Aldrich and I off to wherever ahead of time, then go find Francis and Roderich out front to greet them. Later, having made sure she understands the whole ‘gay ghost guys’ thing, you can slip off unnoticed and bring us back.”

The rabbit blinks. “Actually, that should work quite nicely.”

At this point, the younger of the Italian brothers begins squirming restlessly, hand raised and expression distressed.

“Yes, Feliciano?” Romulus calls on him, an amused twinkle in his eyes.

“Ve, grandpa, what are Luddy and I supposed to do?” The question is asked in the manner of a child and accompanied by a faint pout.

He smiles warmly, “I don’t have any big, important task for you two, but why don’t you go paint a picture for your mother? The goal of this is to butter her up for this shitstorm without making it too obvious, so you and Ludwig should probably stay together, preferably closeby, and do whatever you’d normally do. Got that?”

A bright, cheerful beam stretches itself across his face, elation practically oozing from him at the prospect of more painting time. “Ve~!”

Moving his gaze across the gathered crowd, a determined look molds itself to the apparent leader, his role befitting him as naturally as the skin on his flesh, the color of his eyes. In a strong, commanding voice, he declares for all to hear, “move out!”

00:30

Thirty minutes until Elizabeta’s estimated arrival, Gilbert roams the manor’s halls, having checked, double checked, even triple checked all the guest rooms and ensuites.

He sighs loudly, “Gottverdammt, why do I always get the boring A.F. jobs?”

Meanwhile, deep, deep below the ground floor, Arthur pointedly bonks a pattern into a stone wall, Romulus and me looking on in confusion and wariness.

He leans toward me and mutters conspiratorily, “why do you think they even  _ have _ this basement?”

“Definitely not to sacrifice children, if that’s what you’re thinking.” I give him a flat glare.

“Alright, here we go!” The rabbit exclaims, the wall before him falling away to reveal a secret chamber. “By the way, this entire area was never meant to see the light of day, so if you tell anyone about its existence, I’m afraid we’ll have to kill you- er, again.”

The Brit enters the room, carefully stepping over the multitude of books and suspiciously wand-shaped sticks littering the floor. A soft, blueish glow emanates from spheric lights, many either hanging from the ceiling with tan rope or strategically placed at the tops of towering shelves. Beneath the mess of items, a dark green carpet lays atop hardwood flooring, and a dark, wooden table has been set up near the room’s center, coated in a thick layer of dusty, old books and jars of suspicious animal parts. Beside the table, if it can even be used as one anymore, is a huge, pitch black cauldron, an eerie, green fog pouring from its mouth. Arthur shuffles his way over to a grand, marble fireplace on one side of the room, swiping a box of matches from its mantel and beginning to start a fire as he speaks.

“I guess you could say this is like my office, but more magical and geared towards the occult,” he explains, “Francis had it built for me while the house was under construction, but we had to put it underground and add a bunch of secret codes and false bookshelves to keep it hidden. It wouldn’t exactly bode well for the public to know I’m descended from the most notorious witch in European history, now would it?”

As the logs spark to life, Arthur watches its red flame for a moment before standing to address his company, “I may have been born without a lick of magic, but that doesn't mean I can’t love learning more of my family’s abilities. That, and it doesn’t take anything special to whip up a potion.”

“Huh, so you  _ don’t _ praise Satan down here?”

As I whap him upside the head, the luxury-obsessed idiot gives a pained noise, Arthur launching quite a few obscenities at him.

“Honestly, of course I don’t ‘ _ praise Satan _ !’” Arthur spits irritably, “that would be an absolute waste of the resources I’ve stored here.”

I reply, hand pressed to my charge’s mouth, “of course he didn’t mean that. He’s just an dumbass who doesn’t know how to filter himsellaaACK!” I quickly pull away at the feeling of a tragically wet and familiar appendage dragging itself across my palm, quickly wiping the moistened area on the fabric of my shirt. “Did- did you just lick me?!”

“Oh please, you’re acting like it’s the first time I’ve done that.” The offending person chuckles, a certain gleam in that smile implying something much less innocent.

In response, I feel my face turn a vibrant, beet red, expression hard. That crazy, impulsive object in my chest once more commences its thumping rhythm. Minutes pass and I wordlessly stare at the moronic asshole before me, trying to remain in control as he continues staring, his eyes sparkling and warming me to the core.

“Oh, get a room!” The rabbit irritably exclaims, taking a hint and stomping out, the secret entrance sealing itself behind him.

The sound of bricks shuffling into place as our backdrop, we stand there, gazes locked in place, waiting for each bit of wall to go back the way it was. In this lightning, he looks like a predator, amber orbs narrowed and nearly glowing, teeth flashing into a small smirk. His feet softly tapping against the floor, Romulus approaches, lips slowly but surely spreading into an all-out grin, his hips lightly swaying with that confident tint that always set him apart from all the others. He could inspirit an entire kingdom with the wave of a hand, and as reluctant as I may have been to believe that in my prime, here, in this moment, I have no doubts as to who I’m dealing with.

“You know,” he begins, “I’d say we have about thirty minutes or so left until they get here.”

I swallow, noticing my throat mysterious drying up. “On top of that, we’ll probably have slightly longer so Francis, Roderich, and Arthur can explain the full situation.”

Romulus gently runs his hand over my cheek. I know these hands well. As with almost every crevice, every part of his magnificent self, no matter how insignificant, I’ve come to memorize it down to a T. His lips dance across my jaw, pampering the junction of my face and neck with sugary kisses and teasing suckles, causing me to release a groan at the feeling. I lean my head back, closing my eyes with a hum as his other hand affectionately comes to rest at the top of my rear, giving a short squeeze and almost petting-

My eyes snap open with a glare. “Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me.”

“Hm?” He says dazily, pressing his nose into my neck.

“Romulus, how many times to I have to tell you this?” I sigh, “we are not, under any circumstance, having sex while visiting our descendents. End of discussion.”

Although I can’t see him, I can just  _ feel _ his mouth turning down into a tragic little pout, and the thought itself is enough to nearly kill me. And then, he whines out, “but Aldrich, I’m lonely.”

Regardless, I stand firm, growling out, “yeah, well, maybe you should have thought about it a little more before deciding to drag me to the world of the living to hunt down an infinitely powerful witch.”

“Aw, come on,” he murmurs, using his grip to draw me closer. “Please? Just a little romp?”

Along with the thumping, a bustling, fluttering feeling ignites in the pit of my stomach, then works its way up, spreading like an infection until I can barely do anything but internally turn to mush, melting away like a wax figure left outside on the hottest day of summer. “No, we are not doing anything of that nature, regardless of how little or rompy it may be.”

At this point, he pulls back, meeting me face-to-face. I feel myself die at the honesty pouring from every aspect of his expression. “Aldrich, I have a high sex drive and an active life in the bedroom and you know it. Is it me?” He asks and I find it hard to breath.

To my surprise, I somehow manage to overcome the overwhelming feeling of being drowned and stammer out, “o-of course not! Why would you think that?”

“Well, we normally have sex at least once every couple days, so…”

“Yeah, but just because I’m cutting you off for a while doesn’t mean I don’t care anymore.” I bite my lip, tugging slightly. “I simply don’t think it’s appropriate to fuck while we’re staying with our young, highly impressionable descendents.”

He sighs, laying his head back against my shoulder. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just- I’m the kind of person who likes lots and lots of affection, so since I’m used to us having frequent sex, I get a little distressed when I’m all of a sudden cut-off like this.”

I wind my arms about his waist, silently exhaling from my nose. “I understand. I’m sorry for being harsh. I know what you’re like and that you’d practically die without attention. Can we make a compromise?”

“Yeah, sure.” I feel that gorgeous smile of his make its way back onto his lips, a breathy laugh escaping along with it. “What are you thinking?”

For the first in a long time, a mischievous smirk faintly pulls at the corners of my mouth, and my hands slide downwards. “Well, we do have a little less than an hour left. What do you say to the idea of a ‘little romp?’”

“I thought you’d never ask,” he says and not a moment later, I find that devious grin of his pressed to mine, eyes closed as our tongues venture forth, sliding around each other and connecting lovingly, wet and wild and absolutely wonderful.

Later, as we lay on the floor in front of the fire place, warm and almost glowing from the aftermath, I don’t shy away when Romulus entwines his fingers with mine, leaning against his shoulder.

“I love you,” His voice is practically a whisper, ghosting over the side of my head, his free hand brushing stray locks of blond from my face.

“I love you too.”

00:00

Upstairs, three young men stand before the manor, watching uneasily as a sleek, black limousine pulls up and rounds the curve winding about the rabbit fountain, parking right in front of them. From the shotgun seat, a door opens and a tall, spiky-haired male comes out, a blue and white-striped scarf wrapped around his neck several times over. His cold, green eyes seemingly bore into the helpless onlookers’ very souls before he continues on to observe his surroundings, giving an appreciative nod to the fountain. Closing his door none-to-gently, he walks around the front of the car, coming to a stop at the passenger door and opening it.

A lovely young woman gracefully exits the lavish vehicle, moving with all the elegance and poise of a cat. Her short, fair bob bounces lightly as she goes to stand by the more intimidating newcomer, beaming at the familiar faces awaiting them. Lastly, a second female with long, chestnut-colored hair held back with fresh flowers emerges, shoulders squared, expression hard. Wordlessly, she approaches the small group, walks right up to her brother, and socks him in the jaw.

“RODERICH EDELSTEIN, WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I RIIIISSSSEEEEE! Hahah, lol nope still alive totally not dead yet. Although, it is about one am where I am, so who even knows at this point?  
> So yeah, um, I'm not sure what to say for myself. I planned on updating at some point in July, but then I got very, very side-tracked, and only now felt like actually working on this. The good news about my ridiculous distractions is that I'm now making really good progress on a new Hetalia project I've been plotting out with my beta reader. The bad news is that this is currently the only chapter I have finished of this project. Fuck.  
> Anyways, I struggled a lot on the scene with Rome and Germania by themselves, having a heart-to-heart. Could you tell? I really hope you couldn't. DX *shame*  
> Although, I think we can all rejoice, because I finally got to the point and brought in Elizabeta and her entourage! YAY! Next chapter, we'll be seeing a lot more of them, as well as Mama Hungary's first impressions of Ludwig. Fun times for all, am I right?  
> But yeah, regarding that 'project' I mentioned in the second paragraph of this A/N, I'm actually really, really excited about it. It's a vampire AU, because I can't seem to find any really, really awesome ones that aren't of the NOTP, especially not ones with the OTP (Roger =3). Like I said, I'm really hype. I have a pretty damn good feeling about this project. You can expect the first chapter of the main fic to be up soon.  
> In the meantime, HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN WATCHING THE OLYMPICS? Olympic season is the best season, imo. It's one of the times I get really intensely passionate about being patriotic and cheering on my country (America). =D I AM ABSOLUTELY ESTATIC THAT WE HAVE SUCH A HIGH MEDAL COUNT AT THE MOMENT!!!!


	31. 3.26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pairings brought up/mentioned: Slight Gerita, but that's about it; this isn't a very shippy chapter  
> Warnings: None, aside from the usual foul language and moments of stupidity that you've probably come to expect from this fanfic by now

-3.26-

I sip from my cup, the hot tea only slightly scalding my tongue by this point. My eyes flicker nervously from face to face in the formal lounge, taking in everything from Elizabeta's fuming aggravation, to Roderich's pathetic mess of shame and humiliation, to Antonio's plastic grin, the expression stiff and fake with the added presence of Tim, an occasionally difficult wildcat spirit and Emma's older brother. Said young lady sits beside her mistress, curiously looking at her tea bag in amusement.

"Hey, Eliza, these things are shaped like little, three-D diamonds or something. Isn't that cute?" She innocently asks, smile cat-like.

The Hungarian blinks, pulling her own tea bag from her cup and looking at it. "Huh, I guess it is. Surprising, though."

"Oh? And why is that?" Francis inquires smoothly, head resting on his hand, "after all, I only aim to please."

Elizabeta shrugs. "I don't know, I guess, knowing you, I kind of expected them to be shaped like roses."

He freezes, distressed. "Wha- are you implying something?!"

"Oh, please," I roll my eyes. "Not everything's an implication against your mannerisms and low IQ, and even if it was, it's not like you'd bloody notice." I then go back to drinking my tea, as he proceeds to complain melodramatically about how I always gang up against him or whatever.

"- Honestly, I could be dead in a ditch, and you wouldn't even care! It's like you're planning this or something, conspiring against me in the dark of night, writing witty comebacks in some secret book to use the next day on your poor, dear old human- !"

"Hey, I found him!" Lovino barges in, dragging his younger brother behind at the wrist, all scathing snark and no clever tact as usual. "Apparently he decided it'd be just fucking brilliant to go all the way out to the middle of _butt-fuck nowhere_ to paint. Great, right?"

As Ludwig enters shortly afterwards, following dutifully behind the rather reckless two, Elizabeta stands from her seat, setting the teacup down on the coffee table before her. With a grin, she rushes over to them, pulling her sons into a hug. Lovino futilely resists, but Feliciano eagerly returns her affections.

"Lovi, Feli, I missed you so much!" She squeals, holding them tightly to her chest.

"Jesus fucking christ, mom, you're crushing the life out of me."

"Ve~ mama!"

Elizabeta giggles as she finally pulls away, giving each of her boys a kiss to the cheek. Then, she notices Ludwig awkwardly standing to the side.

"Oh, you must be Ludwig." In a flash, she's there, slipping around and carefully inspecting the wolf, feeling his biceps, prodding at his abs.

"Wait, what are you-" Ludwig gazes from side-to-side, becoming even more confused as she disappears behind him.

From her obscured position, she exclaims, "ooo, his butt really is nice! It's all tight and stuff."

"Ve, I know, right?" Feliciano agrees, nodding enthusiastically, "and his arms are warm and muscley!"

Red-faced, he exclaims, " _can we please stop talking about my butt_?!"

Elizabeta chuckles, moving out from her place to properly address her embarrassed and slightly humiliated company, arm outstretched invitingly. "Elizabeta Héderváry, Lovino and Feliciano's mother. It's great to finally meet you!"

"Yes, to you as well," with a sigh, he relents, taking her hand and shaking it. "Ludwig."

Suddenly, she pulls him in close, stares straight into his eyes, and, voice low, says, "well, Ludwig, allow me to make something clear. If you ever, and by ever I mean _ever_ , let so much as a hair on my precious baby's head get hurt while under your care. You. Will. Regret it."

"Wahh, mama!" Feliciano, stricken, pulls at the woman's arm. "Don't threaten Luddy!"

"Hm?" As she remembers the presences of her children, the intimidating demeanor about her abruptly dissolves. Elizabeta releases her hostage, of whom appears thoroughly shaken, the beginnings of a cold sheen developing on his forehead.

"Well anyways, you seem capable enough." She gives him a grin. "Make sure to protect my little Feli and we should get along just fine."

"O-of course," he nods, albeit a little hesitantly.

I clear my throat. "Now that the two of you are acquainted, can we please be seated?"

"Oh yeah," Feliciano perks up. "We have a lot to tell mama, right?"

Her head whips to him worriedly. "You what? Roderich!" Concern quickly turns to anger. Specifically, it turns to anger directed at Roderich.

"How come you always assume it's my fault?" He frowns, occasionally taking small, jittery sips from his teacup.

"I sent _you_ to watch over my kids, so if something bad happened, _you're_ to blame for not doing your job!" She scolds.

Roderich groans, "you know what? I give up."

"Keseseseseses~ Geez, you're so hilariously quick to surrender!" In enters Gilbert, leaning against the doorframe and warily glancing every so often at Elizabeta's empty hands.

Subsequently, the woman notices this and comments on his shifting eyes. "Gilbert, long time no see," she greets him, approaching in a fashion tragically similar to that of a lioness stalking her prey. "It's kind of funny how you keep calling my brother a wimp. I mean, you know, since you scream like girl whenever I so much as mention frying pans-"

" _Why must you torment me so_?!" He yells, then speeds off, running so fast he becomes a shapeless blur of red and white.

Despite Elizabeta's wicked cackling, I'm able to make out Ludwig discreetly muttering to Feliciano, "what's with Gilbert, your mother, and frying pans?"

"Mama has a nasty habit of knocking people out with a frying pan she carries around," he cheerfully whisper-shouts back.

He looks at him incredulously. "But… where does she keep it?"

"I think it's hidden in her skirt."

The mostly confused, slightly terrified glance he shoots to the skirt of her grey, pinstripe suit is priceless.

A faint twitch gracing one of my eyes, I think to myself that right about now would be a good time to reign in the imbeciles. With a grin, I gesture to the chairs. "Ludwig, Feliciano, how about you take a seat, get comfortable."

"Okay!" The Italian nods his head, plopping down on one of the couches. Ludwig sits nexts to him, visibly tense and disturbed by how this gathering's been going.

Elizabeta's laughter dies down, and she once more turns her attention to the matter at hand. "So, what was it this time? Roderich sue someone for breaking the piano? Lovino eat all the tomatoes in the house? Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis go drinking and wind up getting arrested… again?"

"Er… no, actually." I give a sheepish smile.

"Wow, really? Good job, guys."

Francis sulks. " _Someone's_ forgetting about all those vases."

"Those vases are irrelevant," Lovino snips back.

"Totally irrelevant," Antonio adds earnestly.

Tim grunts, "they don't sound irrelevant," but is promptly and effectively ignored.

I take a deep breath. "Okay, so this is a bit of a long story, and probably going to sound insane, but it is what it is. First of all," I pause. "Mind, this hasn't been released to the public yet, nor do we plan for it to be."

"My lips are sealed." Elizabeta pulls her fingers over her mouth as if zipping it shut. Emma and Tim nod in agreement, Tim only after his sister rather harshly elbows him in the gut.

I nod as well before continuing: "Ludwig's- completely coincidentally, I mean it's not like we could have planned for this, after all. How we would even do so is a mystery to me-"

" _Arthur_ ," Francis interrupts.

"Right, sorry. Nervous habit." I cease my rambling, and cut straight to the point. "Ludwig's apparently descended from Aldrich."

Elizabeta blinks. "What?"

"Yeah," I affirm, "and since he and Gilbert are brothers, that means Gilbert is too."

She pales. "The media's going to go crazy when they find out."

My brows furrow. "You mean 'if.'"

"No, I mean 'when.' You can't hide something this big from the media and expect it to stay hidden." She deflates. "One day, they'll say 'Oh, just look at them! They're so cute and innocent!' The next thing you know- wham! Every headline will read something along the lines of: 'Young Vargas gets bound to quiet, kinda shady descendant of Aldrich. IS IT FATE?!'"

Ludwig frowns. "I'm not 'shady.'"

"I never said you were," Elizabeta defends. "I'm just saying that's how the media's so far perceived you. Everyone in the living Vargas clan went somewhere public with their spirit the day after they bound themselves, but you've yet to appear on camera; of course they're suspicious."

Ludwig frowns harder.

"Well regardless," I cut in, "there are more bombshells to be dropped."

Elizabeta sighs, "alright, what's next?"

"We're pretty sure an ancient witch from the time of Romulus and Aldrich is back and actively trying to wreck havoc again."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Like I said, some of this is pretty insane," I remind. "All I ask is that you keep an open mind."

She narrows her eyes at me. "Go on."

Cautiously, I continue, "Numerous times, Ludwig's fought off magic-created shadow wolves, of which were a staple of this witch's practices. They've even attacked Feliciano."

" _Roderich_!"

Roderich frantically explains, "okay, in my defense, it was only once, I wasn't there, and Ludwig made sure he didn't get hurt."

"But it still _happened_." His sister hisses. "Whether or not my kid got hurt, it still _happened_."

"And more happened yet!" I point out. "I'd finish debriefing you on the situation if you'd all stop with the side conversations."

Elizabeta gestures that she's watching Roderich, but otherwise remains silent.

I take another deep breath. "This is probably the biggest and craziest event of them all. You know King Romulus and his loyal spirit animal, Aldrich? Well, apparently ghosts can visit their living relatives from the afterlife."

The three look at me with a spectrum of confused faces. Then, Elizabeta turns to Francis and asks, none-too-quiet, "did he hit his head in the past month, or-?"  
"I have _not_ lost my marbles!" I shout, outraged.

Francis confirms, "it's true. Aldrich fell into my roses… my poor, poor roses."

"Okay, then where are they now?" Elizabeta insists. "If they're really here, and really back from the dead, show them to me."

I look at her flatly. "Alright, fine. Give me a couple minutes and I'll bring them."

* * *

 

Down in the secret witch room, Aldrich is trying very, very hard to keep from just knocking Romulus out and being done with it.

"Ooh, what's this?"

The dead king goes from pile to pile, touching literally everything. Currently, he's prodding at what appears to be a shrunken head.

"Romulus, don't touch that. You don't know where it's been," Aldrich groans.

Suddenly, the wall comes apart, causing Romulus to jump and the head to fall.

On the other side stands Arthur, appearing far grumpier than usual. "I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Bad news," Aldrich says before Romulus can cut in with something stupid.

"Very well," Arthur sighs. "Elizabeta's not taking this the best. So far she's stressed out about the media, threatened Roderich, and implied I was going crazy."

Romulus looks at him with slight incredulity. "What's the good news?"

He grins fakely. "The good news is now she's going to see I was telling the truth about you two, and realize I'm _not_ going crazy!"

As the rabbit spirit motions for them out, the ghosts somewhat reluctantly oblige, neither excited for what's to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never trust me when it comes to deadlines and schedules. N E V E R.  
> I kid you not, this chapter's spent the past few months just sitting on my google drive, unfinished. I'm really, really shocked it took me this long to finally get to work on this thing, I mean holy crap in a can-  
> Anyways! This was the people-finally-try-to-explain-things-to-the-mom chapter, starring Elizabeta! The ridiculous amount of dialogue almost killed me, I s2g.  
> I s2g, if I ever finish this fanfic, I'm declaring it my trashterpiece. I hope this chapter finds you all in good health, and I'll see you later!

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, it's been ridiculously long since I last posted to this site. For any of you wondering, my main account as of now is on fanfiction.net as Kittyreaper! I wrote this as the first thing posted to the site, a Hetalia fanfic about Rome, Germania, & spirits, &, well, things got out of hand pretty quickly.  
> This is still a work-in-progress, meaning I haven't finished yet, but I work on it daily, and definitely plan on completing this work. As for my Homestuck works, I honestly don't know whether or not I plan on completing them! Hahahaha...  
> Anyways, this fanfic works a bit differently. Each major arc is separated into a part, with an intermission between parts 2 & 3; each part is split into chapter-like sub-parts. This is part 1.1 & the last chapter of part 1 is 1.5.  
> On fanfiction.net, I've taken to responding to comments in the A/N, but since there's a character limit on AO3, I'll just respond directly to any questions/comments you might have! Also, Romulus is the human name I chose for Rome, while Aldrich is Germania.  
> Anyways, I guess I'll talk with you all later!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Seishin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6407092) by [The_OTP_Fangirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_OTP_Fangirl/pseuds/The_OTP_Fangirl)




End file.
